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The Cruise of the Enterprise 


BOOKS BY JAMES OTIS 


WITH PERRY ON LAKE ERIE. A Tale of 1812. 
307 pp. Cloth. ^1.50. 

WITH PREBLE AT TRIPOLI. A Story of “ Old 
Ironsides ” and The Tripolitan War. 349 pp. 
Cloth. ^^1.50. 

WITH PORTER IN THE ESSEX. A Story of 
HIS Famous Cruise in Southern Waters during 
THE War of 1812. 344 pp. Cloth. ^^1.50. 

THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE. Being the 
Story of the Struggle and Defeat of the French 
Privateering Expeditions against the United 
States in 1779. 359 pp. Cloth. $1.50. 


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SHE LOOKS SMALL, I’LL ADMIT.” 



The 


Cruise of the Enterprise 

BEING 

A Story of the Struggle and Defeat of the 
French Privateering Expeditions against 
the United States in 7/79 

BY 

JAMES OTIS 

Illustrated by William F, Stecher 



W. A. WILDE COMPANY 


BOSTON AND CHICAGO 


TZi 

• Kii 4 

CrvSU 


THE LIBRARY SE 
CONGRESS. 
Two CoHiee Receive* 

MAY. 3 1902 

COFVR»*HT ENTRY 

DT^ 

0LA88 XXa No. 

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Copyright, igo2, 

By W. a. Wilde Company. 
All rights reserved. 


The Cruise of the Enterprise 


Preface 


‘‘It would exceed the limits of this work to enter 
into the history of that system of gradual encroach- 
ments on the rights of the American people, which 
distinguished the measures of both of the two great 
belligerents in the war that succeeded the French Revo- 
lution ; or the height of audacity to which the cruisers 
of France, in particular, carried their depredations, 
most probably mistaking the amount of the influence 
of their own country, over the great body of the Ameri- 
can nation. Not only did they capture British ships 
within our waters, but they actually took the same 
liberties with Americans also. 

“All attempts to obtain redress of the French gov- 
ernment failed, and unable to submit any longer to 
such injustice, the government, in April, 1798, recom- 
mended to Congress a plan of armament and defence. 
. . . Twenty small vessels were advised to be built, 
and, in the event of an open rupture, it was recom- 
mended to Congress to authorize the President to cause 
six ships of the line to be constructed. This force was 
in addition to the six frigates authorized by the law 
of 1794. 


5 


6 


PREFACE 


. On the 4th of May (1798) a new appropria- 
tion was made for the construction of galleys and other 
small vessels, and on the 28th of the same month the 
President was empowered to instruct the commanders 
of the public vessels to capture and send into port all 
French cruisers, whether public or private, that might 
be found on the coast, having committed, or which 
there was reason to suppose might commit, any depre- 
dations on the commerce of the country ; and to recap- 
ture any American vessel that might have already fallen 
into their hands. . . . 

“ It will be seen that an express declaration of war 
was avoided in all these measures, nor was it resorted 
to at all throughout this controversy, although war, 
in fact, existed from the moment the first American 
cruisers appeared on the ocean. 

“The nature of the warfare, which was now (1799) 
confined principally to chases and conflicts with small, 
fast-sailing privateers, soon satisfied the government 
that, to carry on the service to advantage, it required a 
species of vessel different from the heavy, short sloop 
of twenty or twenty-four guns, of which so many were 
used in the beginning of the contest. 

“ Two schooners had been built with this view. One 
of these vessels was called the Experiment and the 
other the Enterprise^ and they were rated at twelve 
guns.” — Cooper’s Naval History of the United States. 


Note 


The story of this famous cruise, when a tiny schooner 
sailing from the United States engaged and vanquished 
vessels twice or thrice her size and weight, was written 
down by Paul Burton, a lad who, at the age of fifteen, 
had shipped on board the Enterprise as “boy,” and 
fifteen years later set himself the task of writing a 
detailed account of his voyage when so much of glory 
and prize money was won. 

His manuscript has suffered no change at the hands 
of the editor, who is so egotistical as to claim equal 
authorship with Paul, save to the extent of rendering 
his nautical terms and expressions into such language 
as may be understood by a landsman, and by toning 
down here and there expressions which are the stronger 
for being given in less emphatic words. 

In fact, this story belongs by right to Paul Burton, 
and, in justice to the lad who served his country well, 
it is given very nearly as he wrote it almost an hundred 
years ago. 

JAMES OTIS. 


7 



Contents 


I. 

Jethro ’s Arguments 




PAGE 

• 13 

II. 

On Board 




• 31 

III. 

At St. Thomas 




. 56 

IV. 

The Lugger 




. 8r 

V. 

Brave Frenchmen . 




. 106 

VI. 

A Show of Treachery . 




• 130 

VII. 

Perplexity 




• 155 

VIII. 

Proofs of Treachery . 




. 177 

IX. 

Miles Partlett 




. 200 

X. 

Again the Lugger . 




. 226 

XI. 

L’Aigle .... 




00 

XII. 

The Hostages . 




. 272 

XIII. 

Le Flambeau . 




• 293 

XIV. 

Retaking Prizes 




. 316 

XV. 

Homeward Bound . 




• 337 


9 






Illustrations 


“ She looks small, I’ll admit ”... Frontispiece 
“ I peered out cautiously and saw him holy-stoning the deck ” 

“ I held the lantern high above my head ” . . . . 

“ A good ten minutes did Jethro spend at the mast-head ” 

“ Eight of us set off in the schooner’s lon^-boat ” . 


i6 

72 

150 




234 

281 




I 


















THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


CHAPTER I 


Jethro’s Arguments 



HERE is no reason why I should set down here 


^ anything whatsoever concerning the trim little 
schooner Enterprise^ built on the same lines as the 
Experiment^ for the very good reason that every 
American must by this time hold her in his heart for 
the darling she has proved herself to be over and 
over again. 

I do not believe the day will ever come when the 
lads of the United States have forgotten what she did, 
and how it happened that so small a craft was num- 
bered among the naval vessels of 1800; for surely a 
schooner of only one hundred and sixty-five tons is a 
small craft to venture out on the ocean simply for the 
purpose of fighting. 

The wise heads of Salem predicted that the officers 
of the navy department would rue the day they 


13 


4 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


planned such a cockle-shell with the idea that she 
would be of service against the Frenchmen, who so 
far disregarded our rights as to chase their enemies 
into American waters regardless of all maritime law. 
The time had come when we of America proposed to 
show the frog-eaters that we knew what was our due, 
and would uphold it with our last gasp ; but whether 
the little schooner could do anything by way of teach- 
ing the “ Parleyvous,” as old Jethro Leighton called 
the Frenchmen, was a matter which caused a great 
difference of opinion among those in our town who were 
supposed to be well informed in such matters. 

But whether the wise men of Salem approved of 
fitting out such small craft, or not, there she was with 
the riggers on board making ready for sea, and I stood 
by the side of old Jethro Leighton, looking at her with 
wistful eyes. 

My father had promised that I might ship as a sailor 
at any time and on any craft after my fifteenth birth- 
day ; and mother, not without many a tear and sigh, 
had agreed that she would make no protest. 

On this first day of December, in the year of grace 
1799, I had passed my fifteenth birthday by more than 
three months, and yet remained at home as if fast tied 
to my mother’s apron-string. The reason for it every 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


15 


one knows ; even the youngest lad in these United 
States remembers how we were insulted again and 
again by the French cruisers, and those who have lived 
on the seacoast must yet bear in mind that our mer- 
chantmen were forced to remain in port, or take great 
chances of being gobbled up by the frog-eaters. 

Therefore it was I had been unable to ship for a 
long voyage, as was my desire, and I would not turn 
fisherman because I counted on being more than a 
common sailor after I had learned the ropes. Another 
reason why I yet remained at home when I should 
have been jockeying a spar, was that old Jethro 
Leighton, the ablest seaman sailing out of Salem, had 
agreed to take me under his wing, and every one knows 
that old Jethro would not sign articles for anything 
except a cruise which promised good returns. 

“We’ll look over whatsoever turns up in our line, 
and make no bloomin’ mistake in either craft or cap- 
tain,” the old man had said time and time again to 
check my impatience. “You’ve got your whole life 
before you, an’ a few days more or less on shore don’t 
signify. Ship with an able master, in a well built, 
well-found craft, an’ you’ll soon be the proper sailor; 
but make a wrong move at the beginnin’, an’ your 
chances for gettin’ ahead in the world will be slim.” 


l6 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Because of what the French were doing, there 
were but few vessels leaving Salem in those days, 
and Jethro had seen nothing to suit him until the 
day when the Enterprise was being fitted out. 

He had soothed me by declaring that within a year 
the Parleyvous would have had a lesson that could not 
easily be forgotten, and then business in Salem would 
revive, after which we might take our pick of ships. 

Then came the day when he proposed that I go 
with him to look at the schooner which the people 
in Congress believed would be able to work some 
mischief among the French cruisers, and we inspected 
her as carefully as if it was our purpose to buy the 
little beauty. 

“Yes, she’s well built, an’ should be able to show 
the frog-eaters her heels when she can’t stand up 
against ’em,’’ old Jethro said as, our inspection at an 
end, he seated himself on a stick of timber while 
filling his pipe. “She looks small. I’ll admit; but if 
the right man handles her, you’ll hear that she ain’t 
to be sneezed at.” 

“ Father said Lieutenant Shaw was to be given 
command of her,” I. interrupted eagerly, rejoicing at 
being able to give the old sailor a bit of news, 
whereat Jethro pricked up his ears mightily. 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


17 

“Do you mean John Shaw, whose father 
served under Commodore Hopkins in the War of 
Independence ? “ 

“ His name is John, but more than that I can’t 
say.” 

“ If he comes from the family I’m thinkin’ about, 
that bit of a schooner will make a great cruise,” 
Jethro said reflectively, after having lighted his pipe. 

“ Is he a brave man ? ” I asked, rather for the 
purpose of persuading the old sailor into spinning a 
yarn, than from a desire for information. 

“The Shaws I’ve known were born fightin’, an’ as 
for handlin’ a square-rigged craft, their equals ain’t 
to be found.” 

“ Well ? ” I asked, as he paused without any ap- 
parent intention of telling a story. 

“Well, that’s all there is to it, except, perhaps,” 
he added slowly, “if this John is the son of Samuel, 
I wouldn’t mind shippin’ on board the Enterprise 
for the first cruise.” 

I looked at the old man, believing for the moment 
that he had taken leave of his senses. 

“Would you go in for fighting.^” I cried. 

“I reckon it would amount to that if I shipped on 
yonder schooner.” 


8 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ But you’ve agreed to take me for a shipmate, 
Jethro Leighton ! ” 

“Well, what’s to hinder your followin’ me aboard 
the E^iterprise, if it so chances that this John Shaw 
is the son of Samuel ? ” the old man asked quietly. 

It was for the moment as if I had suddenly been 
plunged head foremost into cold water. I wanted to 
be a sailor ; but as for learning the trade on board a 
war vessel, — why it was almost ridiculous. I was no 
blood-thirsty pirate who could stand up to kill or be 
killed, and I questioned whether I should find cour- 
age enough to help work the guns when the enemy 

was the weaker, to say nothing about tackling a 

vessel of equal or greater strength. 

“Well.^” Jethro repeated, eying me narrowly. 

“I — I — I don’t believe I could do it.” 

“What.?” the old seaman roared. “Do you mean 
to give me the idea, that you, Paul Burton, son of 

him who commanded the smartest privateer out of 

this ’ere port no longer ago than ’8o, would be afraid 
to sign articles for a cruise in the Enterprise ? ” 

I was ashamed to declare boldly that I had grave 
doubts as to my own courage, and Jethro said 
musingly : — 

“ I reckon we might get along on board the 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


19 


schooner right snug, with a fair show of findin’ a 
good bit of prize money. It’ll be tight stowin’ forward, 
even if she carries no more’n seventy-five as a crew ; 
but that ain’t the worst that can happen to a man.” 

I understood by this last remark that the old sailor 
was thinking of the living accommodations; and this, 
even more than anything he had said, caused me to 
believe he was seriously contemplating signing articles 
for the first cruise of the Enterprise. 

Such a possibility both surprised and frightened 
me. I had counted on learning a sailorman’s duties 
by the side of Jethro Leighton, knowing full well 
that with such a friend as I knew he could be, I 
might push ahead twice as rapidly as would be pos- 
sible if I went among strangers. 

“ It surely can’t be that you would ship to fight 
the Frenchmen,” I said after a long pause, and hop- 
ing it might yet be within my power to bring about 
a change in the plans, for by this time I knew full 
well that his mind was made up to the^ venture. 

“ Why can’t it be } ” he asked gruffly. “ Are you 
thinkin’ that because I’m an old shell-back I don’t 
dare strike a blow against the bloomin’ frog-eaters 
who are tryin’ to find out jest how much in the way 
of rough treatment Yankees will stand ? ” 


20 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ Of course I don’t think you are a coward, Master 
Jethro,” I replied quickly, and then came all which 
was in my mind. 

I told him why I did not dare to ship aboard the 
Enterprise ; explained that I was in fact a coward, 
and wound up by declaring that my heart would 
indeed be broken if he went to sea without me. 

“ That’s exactly what I don’t count on doin’, lad. 
We’ll be mess-mates for one cruise, if no more, an’ 
you shall have your first dose of sailorin’ on board 
the Enterprise P 

He must have understood by the expression on my 
face how much of fear was in my heart, for he cried 
sharply : — 

“ What would your father say if he could see you 
jest now, when your face is drawn down till it’s no 
more’n a white thread ? ” 

“I don’t care to think of that. Master Jethro. Of 
course he would be angry — ” 

“Angry! He’d be ashamed, an’ wouldn’t want to 
show his face in Salem afterward. Now listen to me, 
lad, an’ remember what I say. ’Cordin’ to my way 
of thinkin’, you ain’t half the coward you’ve made 
out. You’ve got the idee that every shot what comes 
aboard finds its billet ; but once you’re in an action. 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


21 


an’ learn that a good deal of iron can be thrown 
away on both sides without doin’ any great damage, 
you’ll sing a different tune. Now we two are goin’ 
to ship aboard the Enterprise^ an’ if you try to 
squeak out of it, I’ll go straight to Captain Burton 
when next he makes port, tollin’ him what I’ve heard 
an’ seen this day.” 

A threat like that was sufficient to reduce me to 
silence. If he had demanded that I lay my hand on 
red-hot iron, I would have done it immediately rather 
than have it said to my father that I was in fact a 
coward. 

Jethro evidently understood all which was in my 
mind, for he said quietly, and as if the business had 
been decided upon beyond recall : — 

“ Now is as good a time as any, an’ perhaps bet- 
ter for them who are weak-kneed. Lieutenant John 
Shaw, who has been put in command of the schooner, 
is lookin’ after old shell-backs like me; he counts 
on havin’ a crew of able seamen, with no greenhorns 
among ’em. I’ll agree to sign articles if you’re taken 
on as boy, an’ the thing is done. You’ll be gettin’ 
a berth which ain’t to be had for the askin’, by a 
long shot; an’ it’s enough to make you proud as a 
peacock.” 


22 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


There was no such thought as pride in my mind ; 
I was terrified by the bare idea of shipping to fight 
battles, and if my heart was so full of terror with 
thinking of the possibilities, what would be the result 
when I found myself forced to take part in a naval 
engagement ? 

Of a verity, I would speedily be rated among all 
who knew me as a veritable coward. 

Jethro had me in his power, because of the threat 
to tell my father that I was afraid to ship on board 
the schooner ; and what made the situation worse for 
me, he knew this quite as well as if I had said so 
outright. Therefore he went about the business of 
joining the crew of the Enterprise at once, dragging 
me with him. 

Lieutenant Shaw was to be found on board, as I 
well knew; and within five minutes after Jethro had 
decided upon his line of conduct, we were standing 
before him. 

I had expected to see a red-faced, ferocious-looking 
man, who used oaths as another would adjectives, 
armed to the teeth, and proudly refusing to hold con- 
verse with such as Jethro and me. 

To my surprise, however, I was before a pleasant- 
faced man not more than thirty years of age, who 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


23 


spoke as kindly to Jethro and me as if we had been 
friends of long standing. There was nothing of the 
bully or the pirate about him, and with his first words 
much of the fear which had assailed me fled. 

“ Yes, I want a crew of able seamen,” he said, in 
reply to Jethro’s question. “We cannot carry more 
than eighty men at the most, and it is necessary every 
one should be able to do full duty. I have heard of 
you, Leighton, and been hoping you would take ad- 
vantage of an opportunity by which you should be 
able to tassel your handkerchief well with prize 
money.” 

“ Well, sir. I’m ready to ship this blessed minute, 
if it so be you take on Paul as boy ; he’s the son of 
Captain Sam Burton, who sailed out of here in ’80 
with the smartest privateer afloat, an’ I’m allowin’ 
he’ll soon be able to bear a hand with the best of 
us.” 

The lieutenant eyed me sharply, and my heart beat 
fast and furiously with joy, for it appeared to me that 
he was on the point of refusing Jethro’s proposition. 

“ I had decided not to ship more than one as boy, 
because the schooner is so small ; but Captain Samuel 
Burton’s son, if he has any of his father’s spirit, should 
be different from the ordinary run of lads.” 


24 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


If I had but dared, the lieutenant would soon have 
been told that in the way of courage I was entirely 
the opposite of my father. In fact, the words were 
almost trembling on my lips, when Jethro replied 
stoutly : — 

“ ril answer for him, sir, an’ the more heartily, 
seein’s how it has been agreed all along that I am 
the one to lick him into shape. He’ll do his full 
duty,, an’ a lettle more, or my name ain’t Jethro 
Leighton, which it is.” 

This was a cold-blooded promise, which alarmed 
me more than I had been reassured by the lieuten- 
ant’s appearance, and my knees literally trembled 
beneath me. It was much like a sentence of impris- 
onment when Lieutenant Shaw replied, as if doing 
some great favor, instead of making arrangements to 
have me killed, perhaps : — 

“ I will take your word for it, Leighton, and expect 
you to look after the lad. Have his parents given 
him permission to ship } ” 

“ It has been understood for some time, sir, that I 
was to take him with me, an’ there’ll be no question 
about it.” 

Then the papers were brought out for us to sign, 
much as though this United States schooner Enter- 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


25 


prise was no more than an ordinary trader ; and I did 
not dare open my mouth against anything Jethro 
Leighton had agreed to, although I set it down in 
my mind that if I should be killed, he must be 
counted as my murderer. 

Well, we signed our names in due form, my fingers 
trembling so violently that I could hardly hold a pen, 
and swore to do this or the other, all of which meant 
that we agreed to stand up and be shot at as often 
as Lieutenant Shaw saw fit to put us face to face 
with the enemy. 

This done, the old sailor led me out of the cabin 
to the shore, for it was understood that we would 
not be called upon for service until the schooner was 
nearly ready for sea, and when we were come to the 
head of the dock, he said solemnly: — • 

“ Paul Burton, Tve reg’larly saved you from bein’ 
a fool, an’ before three months are gone you’ll thank 
me for it, — that is, if we’re both alive.” 

“ Now you’ve hit it exactly ! ” I cried petulantly. 
“We shan’t be alive three months from now, and 
the chances are we haven’t got as many weeks left 
us. If the Frenchmen run across us the day after 
we leave port, that’s the end of it ! ” 

“ Oh, it is, eh ? Why, lad, you come nearer bein’ 


26 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


an idjut than I thought possible ! So you believe that 
all hands are to be killed in the first action ? How 
many times has your father been under fire ? ” 

“ I don’t know ; but he has been in a good many 
fights.” 

“ Right you are, an’ yet here you’re figgerin’ on 
bein’ killed the first pop. If we two were at sea, I’d 
dress you down handsomely with the rope’s end, 
thinkin’ to beat some sense into you ; but seein’s how 
we’re ashore, I feel obleeged to leave you in your 
foolishness, with the hope that you’ll come ’round 
in time.” 

Then the old man turned to leave me, and I 
cried : — 

“ Don’t you count on coming home to tell mother 
what I’ve done.?” 

“ I allow you can do that part of it without any 
help from me. Take my advice, though, an’ don’t 
let her know that you’re scared nearly out of your 
wits, for the wife of Sam Burton won’t look overly 
well pleased at knowin’ that her only son is afraid 
of his own shadder!” 

My anger was great as I walked slowly homeward, 
after old Jethro left me, with the sting of his words 
rankling in my heart. I promised myself that I 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 2/ 

would have nothing whatever to do with him when 
we were on board the Enterprise; I would refuse 
to mess with him, and if he attempted to force his 
companionship upon me, so much the worse for him. 

To sum up the situation in a few words, I thought 
and acted childishly — foolishly ; but, fortunately, it 
so chanced that the old sailor never knew I was so 
idiotic as to be enraged simply because he was 
making a man of me even against my own will. 

I went home determined to make light of that 
which troubled me so sorely, while talking with my 
mother ; and because of this resolve, I treated it quite 
as a matter of course that I should have shipped on 
the Enterprise, 

My mother, dear soul, made no remonstrance 
against my sailing on a vessel belonging to the navy, 
although I could see that she was somewhat startled 
because of my having made such a choice. 

“ It is for you to decide, my son,” she said, when 
I had come to an end of my short story, for I made 
it appear as if I willingly entered the service. “ Since 
you are to become a seaman, perhaps it is better you 
should ship on a government vessel rather than a 
merchantman.” 

I failed to understand why she should look at 


28 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


the matter so calmly, when to me it was little better 
than walking deliberately toward death. 

It disappointed me because she did not cry out 
vehemently against her son’s thus venturing into 
danger ; and, perhaps, way down in one corner of my 
heart, I hoped she would be so thoroughly opposed 
to the idea of my sailing on a man-of-war as to force 
Lieutenant Shaw into removing my name from the 
ship’s articles. 

Why she believed it better to ship on the Enterprise 
instead of a merchantman perplexed me, and I took 
a roundabout course to learn the cause by saying : — 

“ I was afraid you might think that I had no busi- 
ness to go where it stands to reason I shall be forced 
to fight for my life.” 

“ In these days, Paul, the crew of a trading vessel 
is often pressed into service, as you know full well. 
Think of your being seized by a British press-gang, 
and forced to spend three or four years on one of 
the king’s ships ! Even though you escaped that 
danger, I am quite certain your chances for getting 
into trouble are less while you are on a man-of-war, 
than if you sailed with a crew of wild fellows who 
are ready to plunge into all sorts of dissipation at 
every port.” 


JETHRO’S ARGUMENTS 


29 


“ But one stands face to face with death in a battle, 
mother,'’ I continued, disappointed because I could 
not arouse her fears for my safety. 

“A sailor is always in danger, Paul. Your father 
took part in many engagements, and why should you 
not be as fortunate as he } ” 

Then she told me that it would please my father, 
when he came into port again, to know I was on 
board the Enterprise, with Jethro Leighton to look 
after me, and declared that he had often hoped I 
would want to enter the navy. 

She told me of this engagement or that in which 
my father had taken part; spoke of the fear con- 
stantly in her heart that now, while he was in the 
merchant service, his vessel would be captured, and 
repeated again and again that she was more free 
from anxiety when he sailed in command of a priva- 
teer. 

All this was news to me, but it served to hearten me 
wonderfully; and before the evening was come to an 
end, I began to think that perhaps Jethro Leighton had 
done me a good turn. 

In order to believe this, however, it was necessary 
for me to keep from my mind the possibilities of what 
might come in the future, in case Lieutenant Shaw 


30 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


took it into his head to attack a vessel stronger in men 
and metal than the Enterprise. 

Then mother began to plan as to the outfit I would 
need; and when I went to bed that night, there was 
more courage in my heart than I had known since 
Jethro first made known his intention of sailing in the 
schooner. 

Mother had said very much about the chances of 
distinguishing myself to such an extent that in time 
I would become a commissioned officer in the navy, 
when my future would be assured, and contrasted such 
a position with that of a captain or mate in the mer- 
chant service, until I almost persuaded myself that I 
might come back from this first cruise a lieutenant, or 
a midshipman at the very least. 

Before sleep came to my eyelids I was considering the 
glory and honor to be gained, rather than the danger 
to which I should be exposed ; and then I forgot my 
anger against Jethro Leighton until once more he 
seemed to be my very good friend, who had put me in 
the right path to make a name for myself. 


CHAPTER II 


On Board 

IT is not probable that any person outside the circle 
^ of my most intimate friends will ever see these 
pages ; yet no one can speak with certainty regarding 
the future, therefore I propose to set down here that 
which would seem very odd to one who was not 
familiar with all the circumstances. 

Although as a matter of fact the United States was 
at war with France, so far as the killing of men and 
the capture of vessels was concerned, there had been 
no declaration of hostilities between the nations. 
When the diplomats of the two countries met, all was 
peace and harmony — on the surface, at least. When 
the French and Yankee seamen met, the big guns 
boomed, blood was shed, and lives were destroyed. 

A curious state of affairs, was it not.? As early as 
the 28th of May, in the year 1798, the President, find- 
ing it impossible to get any satisfaction for the outrages 
of which Yankee seamen were the victims, instructed 
the “ commanders of the public vessels to capture and 

31 


32 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

send into port all French cruisers, whether public or 
private, that might be found on the coast, having com- 
mitted, or which there was reason to suppose might 
commit, any depredations on the commerce of the 
country; and to recapture any American vessel that 
might have fallen into their hands.” 

Here is a copy of a portion of an article which ap- 
peared in the New England Gazette in August, 1798. 
I have saved it because it explains the situation, over 
which I have heard old shell-backs argue by the hour 
without arriving at any conclusion satisfactory to them- 
selves, or those who may have been listening to their 
tongue-wagging : — 

“Until May of this year the. old treaty of alliance 
formed between France and the United States during 
the war of the Revolution, and some subsequent con- 
ventions, were legally in existence ; but Congress by 
law solemnly abrogated them all, on the 7th of July, 
on the plea that they had been repeatedly disre- 
garded by France, and that the latter country con- 
tinued, in the face of the most solemn remonstrances, 
to uphold a system of predatory warfare on the com- 
merce of the United States. 

“ It will be seen that an express declaration of war 
is avoided in all these measures, although war, in 


ON BOARD 


33 

fact, existed from the moment the first American 
cruisers appeared on the ocean. On the 9th of July 
another law was passed, authorizing the American 
vessels of war to capture French cruisers wherever 
they might be found, and empowering the President 
to issue commissions to private armed vessels, con- 
veying to them the same rights as regarded captures, 
as had been given to the public ships.” 

In June of 1798 Captain Decatur of the Dela- 
ware ^ took the French privateer schooner, Le Croy- 
able^ which vessel was refitted by our government 
under the name of Retaliation, and put in command 
of Lieutenant Bainbridge. That was the first prize 
of this odd war. 

Now the United States was to try conclusions with 
the enemy with such vessels as the Enterprise, and 
I, Paul Burton, was a member of her crew — if in- 
deed you can rate a ship’s “ boy ” as belonging _to 
the fighting force, more especially one who had 
never sailed a dozen miles outside of Salem har- 
bor. 

Of the time spent in making ready for sea I do 
not propose to write, save in so far as to say that 
each day I grew more proud because of having 
signed the schooner’s articles, and gradually forgot, 


34 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


in a certain degree, the fears which had at first 
beset me. 

My acquaintances in Salem were one and all 
jealous of my good fortune, as they called it, in 
being allowed to sail aboard the schooner, when 
many and many a better lad had been refused the 
privilege. 

I really began to look upon Jethro Leighton as an 
exceedingly kind friend who had forced me to do 
that which was best; and if the truth must be told, 
gave myself many airs on the strength of belonging 
to the little vessel which was to work so much havoc 
among the enemy’s shipping. 

My mother — God bless her ! — gave me such an 
outfitting as never another lad could boast of, and if 
her heart was heavy because of my coming depar- 
ture, she never allowed so much as a sigh to escape 
her lips, at least when I was near at hand. 

Before we had been ordered on board it was said 
that the Enterprise would be sent to the Windward 
Island station, where all believed French cruisers 
might be found in plenty ; and thanks to the pre- 
dictions of old Jethro, I began to count my portion 
of the prize money before leaving home. 

I have observed that whenever a lad tells of his 


ON BOARD 


35 


first experience at sea, he always makes a long story 
of the sickness which assailed him immediately after 
leaving port, and oftentimes gives long, dry accounts 
of his outfit, as if such things were of great impor- 
tance to a stranger. 

Now I do not propose to make any such mistake ; 
but shall content myself by saying that on the 19th 
of December, 1799, the Enterprise left Salem, and 
among the eighty-one souls aboard. Miles Partlett 
and myself were the only useless members of the 
crew. 

Miles was a lad from Boston, whose father had 
considerable influence with those gentlemen who made 
up the Congress, and because of such connection 
Miles had been shipped on the same rating as my- 
self. He was in his sixteenth year, quite as green 
as was I ; but firm in the belief that during the first 
engagement he would so distinguish himself, that our 
commander could do no less than promote him imme- 
diately the enemy’s vessel struck her colors. 

Of our outward voyage I do not care, nor am I 
able of my own knowledge, to say very much. 

Old Jethro may have believed that he did me great 
service as nurse during that time when it seemed 
certain I would speedily die from the terrible sick- 


36 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

ness which assailed me ; but I can set it down posi- 
tively that he treated me more like a brute than a 
human being, for he laughed when my distress was 
greatest, and persisted in declaring that my plight 
was absolutely necessary if I ever counted on becom- 
ing a sailor. 

Miles was in quite as dangerous a condition as my- 
self, and while we swung in our hammocks between- 
decks, side by side, we gave each to the other last 
messages for the loved ones at home, in case one of 
us survived. 

Then came the day when we could crawl on deck 
and eat our full share of food, after which our illness 
was much like an ugly dream. 

From this time forth we were forced to do a certain 
share of the work, and take our full part in the ship’s 
drill, which was held each day. Lieutenant Shaw 
was a veritable glutton, so far as concerned discipline, 
and during an hour and a half each forenoon and 
afternoon all hands of us went through the drill, 
doing exactly as we would in action. 

Thanks to such rehearsals, I finally knew exactly 
where to go, what to do, and how I should behave 
when the crew were ordered to quarters, brought out 
by the fire alarm, or boarders were called away. 


ON BOARD 


37 


During all the time I served under Lieutenant 
Shaw, we had more or less of a drill every day, except 
when the weather was too heavy, and I have no hesi- 
tation in saying that the best disciplined crew in the 
service could be found on board the little schooner 
Enterprise. 

We spoke no sail, so far as I know, from the time 
of leaving Salem, until quite by chance we fell in with 
the Constellation^ a 38-gun ship flying Commodore 
Truxtun’s flag. 

This officer was in command of the station to which 
we had been ordered, and when Lieutenant Shaw 
went on board the ship to receive orders, our people 
believed we would speedily be sent in search of the 
enemy. 

When our commander returned, after having spent 
an hour or more with the commodore, we learned that 
the Enterprise was ordered back to Philadelphia with 
despatches concerning the bloody action between the 
Constellatio 7 t and La Vengeance, a French frigate 
mounting fifty-two guns. 

As a matter of course, the crew of our boat, which 
carried Commander Shaw to the commodore’s ship, 
learned from the men of the Constellation the full 
particulars of the action ; and although this story of 


38 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

mine is supposed to be devoted to the movements of 
the Enterprise^ I cannot resist the temptation to tell 
here what the Yankee sailors did when they met an 
enemy who, by weight of metal and force of men, 
should have made a prize of the Yankee ship in short 
order. 

Here is the yarn as I have seen it written out by 
an officer who took part in that day’s work, therefore 
no one can question its truthfulness. In fact, old 
Jethro declares that the half of what our men did 
has not been told; but regarding that I leave others 
to judge, contenting myself with giving the story as 
it was set down : — 

“On the 1st of February, 1800, the ConstellatioHy 
38, Commodore Truxtun, was again off the island of 
Guadaloupe alone, Basseterre bearing east five leagues, 
when a sail was seen to the southeast, steering west- 
ward. Commodore Truxtun at first supposed the 
ship in sight to be a large English merchantman 
from Martinico,’ of which he had some knowledge, 
and unwilling to be drawn to leeward of his cruis- 
ing ground, he hoisted English colors by way of 
inducing her to run down and speak him. 

“This invitation being disregarded, sail was made 
in chase, the Constellation gaining fast on the 


ON BOARD 


39 


Stranger. As the latter drew nearer, the ship to the 
windward was discovered to be a French vessel of 
war, when the English colors were hauled down, 
and the Constellation cleared for action. 

“The chase was now distinctly made out to be a 
heavy frigate mounting fifty-two men. As her metal 
was in all probability equal to her rate, the only cir- 
cumstance to equalize this disparity against the Con- 
stellatio7i was the fact that the stranger was very 
deep, which was accounted for by a practice of send- 
ing valuable articles to France, at that time, in ships 
of war as the safest means of transmission. 

“ Commodore Truxtun was not discouraged by his 
discovery, but continued to carry every stitch of can- 
vas that would draw. Toward noon, however, the 
wind became light, and the enemy had the advantage 
in sailing. 

“In this manner, with variable breezes and a smooth 
sea, the chase continued until noon on the 2d, when 
the wind freshened, and the Co^istellation again drew 
ahead. By the middle of the afternoon the wind 
had every appearance of standing, and the chase was 
rising fast. 

“It was eight in the evening, nevertheless, before 
the two ships were within speaking distance of each 


40 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

other, the stranger having come up to the wind a 
little, and the Constellation doubling on her weather 
quarter. 

“ Commodore Truxtun was about to speak to the 
enemy, when the latter opened a fire from his stern 
and quarter guns. In a few moments the Constella- 
tion^ having drawn still more on the weather quarter 
of the chase, poured in a broadside, and the action 
began in earnest. 

“ It was a little past eight when the firing com- 
menced, and it was maintained with vigor until near 
one in the morning, the two ships, most of the time, 
running free, side by side, when the stranger hauled 
up and drew out of the contest. 

“ Orders were given on board the Constellation to 
brace up in chase; but at this moment a report was 
brought to Commodore Truxtun that the mainmast 
was supported almost solely by the wood, every 
shroud having been shot away, and many of them 
so repeatedly cut as to render the use of stoppers 
impossible. 

“ Aware of his danger. Commodore Truxtun ordered 
the men from the guns to secure this all-important 
mast, with the hope of getting alongside of his enemy 
again ; and, judging by the feebleness of her resistance 


ON BOARD 


41 


for the last hour, with the certainty of taking her, 
could this object be effected. 

“ But no exertion could obviate the calamity, the 
mast coming by the board within a few minutes after 
the enemy had sheered off. All the topmen, includ- 
ing Mr. Jarvis, the midshipman in command aloft, 
went over the side with the spars, and that gallant 
young officer, who had refused to abandon his post, 
with all but one man, was lost. 

“The Constellation was no longer in a situation to 
resume the action, and her enemy was in a far worse 
condition, with the exception that she still retained 
spars enough to enable her to escape. Finding it 
impossible to reach any friendly port to windward, 
as soon as the wreck was clear of his ship, Com- 
modore Truxtun bore up for Jamaica, where he 
arrived in safety. 

“In this close and hard-fought action the Constella- 
tion had fourteen men killed and twenty-five wounded, 
eleven of the latter dying of their injuries. Her 
antagonist arrived at Curacoa dismasted, and in a 
sinking condition ; she reported having had fifty of 
her people killed and one hundred and ten wounded. 
The Constellation carried twenty-eight i8’s and ten 
24-pound carronades ; her crew numbered three hun- 


42 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


dred and ten. The La Vengeance had twenty-eight 
i8’s, sixteen 12’s, and eight 42-pound carronades, 
with a crew of between four and five hundred.” 

It was the report of a gallant action which we of 
the Enterprise were to carry into Philadelphia, for there 
was no question but that the Constellation had engaged 
with a superior force, and would have brought the 
Frenchman in as a prize but for the loss of her mast. 

Our people cheered again and again, pluming 
themselves on this action as if they had taken part 
in it, and while I was puffed up with pride for what 
the Yankees had done, there was a heaviness in my 
heart which would not lighten as I realized what a 
sea-fight might mean. 

Forty of the Constellation' s men had been killed 
or wounded during the engagement, and I could not 
refrain from figuring out what would be our percentage 
if we engaged in a similar action. 

It was all very well for Jethro Leighton to say that 
my father had been in many battles and always come 
off without a scratch ; I could not believe that his 
son would be so fortunate. 

The old cowardice began to overpower me, while 
Miles declared that he would like nothing better than 
to take part in just such a fight. 


ON BOARD 


43 


However, I was not so much disturbed as I might 
have been, because of the fact that we were ordered 
to Philadelphia with Commodore Truxtun’s despatches, 
therefore I had little reason to quake with fear until 
the Enterprise should be back at the station again. 

When the little schooner was stretching away 
for home once more, leaving behind those brave 
fellows who had covered themselves with glory, the 
old barnacles on our gun-deck set up such a buzzing 
that one might have thought we had a dozen or more 
swarms of bees on board. 

Every man jack of them — and Miles took part in 
the conversation whenever he was permitted to do 
so — discussed again and again the news we were 
carrying to Philadelphia ; and if Commodore Truxtun 
could have heard these shell-backs explaining just how 
his mainmast could have been treated to prevent 
its going by the board, he might have come to 
believe that he knew very little about seamanship 
as compared with those old fellows from nearabout 
Salem and Boston. 

Jethro Leighton told Miles and me again and 
again just what he would have done under similar 
circumstances, and we dare not so much as laugh at 
his vaporings, for he was a handy man with a rope’s 


44 “fHE CRUISE OF THE ENTERTRISE 

end, and did not hesitate to lay it with vigor on the 
backs of us two lads if it so chanced that he felt in 
the humor. 

Miles was constantly deploring the fact that there 
were but two boys on board the Enterprise. If there 
had been a dozen, so he argued, our condition would 
have been much improved, because there would be 
just so many more for the men to vent their spite 
on, whereas we two were the only scapegoats for all 
our crew of eighty. 

If we had been kicked and cuffed around because 
of mischief done, or some duty neglected by us, I 
could have borne the punishment better; but as it 
was, if a sailor chanced to be dressed down by an 
officer, he immediately came below and soothed his 
ruffled spirits by flogging or pounding us lads until 
he was tired. If any old shell-back was out of 
humor, he livened himself by knocking us about as 
if we had shipped for no other purpose than to pro- 
vide pleasure for him, and when the watch below 
gathered to hear some one of their number spin 
wonderful yarns. Miles and I were kept in the back- 
ground, where no more than half the story could be 
heard. 

However, it is not my purpose to give way to 


ON BOARD 


45 


grumbling with my pen ; I had determined not to 
speak of it; but even now I can feel the tingling 
caused by a rope’s end skilfully applied, and the 
words were set down almost before I realized what 
was being written. 

Two days after parting company with the victo- 
rious Constellation^ we sighted a brig to leeward, and, 
running down to speak her, had the satisfaction of 
learning that she was an American prize to a French 
cruiser. 

As a matter of course the prize crew made no re- 
sistance when Lieutenant Shaw ordered her to heave 
to and send a boat alongside. The frog-eaters took 
the matter quite calmly, and in an hour after she 
was brought to, the Frenchmen were below as 
prisoners, while the released crew of the brig headed 
her for a home port, blessing the little Enterprise 
for having turned the tables for them so neatly. 

One other Yankee vessel we recaptured without 
firing a gun, before we made the capes of the Dela- 
ware, and I was beginning to grow brave once more, 
for we had already done good work without seeing 
very much of danger. 

It is necessary, however, that I hurry over that 
portion of our cruise during which we had little or 


46 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

no excitement, and come to the time when we worked 
independently, so to speak. 

The Enterprise was not allowed to remain in port 
many hours. As soon as the despatches were de- 
livered, and we had taken on water and fresh provi- 
sions, we got under way for the windward station 
once more, spending no less than four days working 
down the Delaware River with contrary winds. 

During the first week in March the schooner was 
off Cape Francois, and never a sign of the enemy 
had been seen, when the lookout reported, just at 
sunset, a large frigate to windward bearing down 
upon us. 

Now Miles Partlett had made many boasts as to 
what our crew could and would do, when we sighted 
one of the enemy’s vessels. To hear him, a stranger 
would have said that his greatest desire was to see the 
Enterprise running down to engage a French frigate, 
for then, as he declared, must come the time when 
our commander would have an opportunity to learn 
of what stuff he, Partlett, was made. 

He and I were on deck when the word was passed 
aft that a frigate was standing down upon us, and 
we heard old Jethro say grimly: — 

“If it so chances that yonder stranger is an enemy, 


ON BOARD 


47 


we can count that the little Enterprise is mighty near 
the end of her cruise, an’ we’re like to find out 
how a French prison looks.” 

“ Can’t we run away from her ? ” Miles asked, 
and I fancied that his voice trembled slightly. 

It was natural that a coward like myself should be 
frightened at such a time ; but I was astonished to hear 
such a fire-eater as Miles speak of running away. 

“ When a schooner can show her heels to a frigate 
with the wind we’ve got now, you may count on 
butterin’ parsnips with fine words an’ be able to taste 
the grease,” Jethro said with a laugh, as if he saw 
something very comical in such a 'disagreeable situa- 
tion. “ We’ll have to take what comes ; an’ if we do 
find ourselves under the guns of a 58 frigate, I 
hope our commander will let us take one shot at 
her before haulin’ down our colors.” 

It is a fact that Miles grew pale, and so great was 
my surprise at seeing him ' show signs of fear that 
for the moment I forgot entirely that I was the 
coward. 

When Jethro ceased speaking I turned my head 
aft, where three or four officers were standing watch- 
ing the stranger with their glasses, and on looking 
around once more, I missed Miles. 


48 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“ What has become of the lad ? ” I asked, and old 
Jethro said with a peculiar chuckle: — 

“ He sneaked down below. I reckon he’s gone to 
put his war-paint on before advisin’ our commander 
to engage the frigate, if it so be she’s an enemy.” 

A moment later word was passed forward by those 
who had been standing near the quarter, that our 
officers recognized the stranger as a Yankee ship, 
the Constitution, which carried Commodore Talbot’s 
broad pennant. She belonged to the St. Domingo 
station, and had most likely been led off her ground 
by a chase. 

It was only natural that all hands should remain 
on deck to watch the gallant frigate as she came 
down upon us in fine style, and thus it chanced, 
most likely, that no word was passed below as to 
what had been discovered. 

At all events, Miles did not show himself until we 
had hove to a mile or more to leeward of the frig- 
ate, and Lieutenant Shaw was on his way to report 
the news from home. 

Then my comrade made his appearance, looking 
just a bit sheepish at first; but trying to bluster in 
his old ferocious fashion. 

“ So we won’t have any fight after all ! ” he cried. 


ON BOARD 49 

as if most grievously disappointed. “ I counted on 
our showing what the Enterprise could do.” 

“ An’ you was allowin’ to begin the engage- 
ment below, eh } ” one of our watch asked with a 
leer. 

Miles turned his back upon the man, saying to me 
in a whisper : — 

“ I don’t reckon on going into a fight without mak- 
ing some preparations, and it took me quite a spell 
to overhaul my dunnage.” 

Now I knew full well that Master Partlett’s belong- 
ings were packed in a bag no larger than my own ; 
and he could have turned out everything he owned 
twenty times over during the two hours or more he 
had remained below. 

I began to have grave suspicions as to his 
courage, and could not resist the temptation of 
saying : — 

“ If there had really been a fight on hand, we might 
have been sunk twice over while you remained below. 
li you count on showing what you are capable of 
doing, it would be a good idea to have your dunnage 
where it can be come at more conveniently.” 

Miles looked at me questioningly, growing quite 
red in the face meanwhile, but made no reply; and 


50 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


when Lieutenant Shaw came on board once more, 
we were so excited by the news he brought that I 
gave no further heed to the valiant lad. 

Commodore Truxtun, to whom we were to report, 
had sailed for home, so our commander learned; and 
there was nothing left for us to do but bear up for 
St. Kitts, where the windward squadron had been 
ordered to rendezvous. 

This news gave our old shell-backs the greatest 
satisfaction, much to my bewilderment; and at the 
first opportunity I asked Jethro Leighton the cause 
of the rejoicing. 

“ It’s owin’ to the fact that from this out we’re 
likely to begin our proper work, lad; an’ because of 
it, every man jack should throw up his cap. So far 
we’ve been no more’n a despatch boat, an’ except 
we had the rarest kind of good luck, couldn’t count 
on givin’ an account of ourselves. I ain’t what you 
might call a fire-eater, like your messmate Miles; but 
I’d feel bad if we didn’t get a chance to show what 
we can do. Now has come our time, however, an’ 
I’m way off my reckonin’ if Lieutenant Shaw don’t 
let us spread ourselves. He’s no fresh-water sailor; 
an’ with the commodore out of the way, the Enter- 
prise will poke her nose into the course of many a 


ON BOARD 51 

French cruiser. Two months or more at sea without 
havin’ done anything is a mighty poor showin’.” 

“We’ve recaptured two prizes,’’ I ventured to sug- 
gest; and the old seaman looked at me scornfully. 

“ What does that amount to ? Here we are, eighty 
men or more, with a trim, well-found schooner under 
us, an’ nothin’ to show but the heavin’-to of prize 
crews what never counted on fightin’. Mark my 
words, lad, the dance will begin from this day out ; an’ 
we’ll soon have a chance to show whether we’re of 
the stuff which brings in enough to pay its way.” 

Every man jack of the crew seemed to feel much 
as did Jethro, and even on the faces of the officers 
one could see evidences of the most complete satis- 
faction. 

Not until the Enterprise had finally parted company 
with the frigate did I go below, feeling anything rather 
than pleased with the prospect before us; for, as I 
have said so many times, the mere mention of an 
engagement sent my heart into my boots at one 
bound. 

As seemed only reasonable, the watch below were 
wagging their tongues over the change in the situa- 
tion ; and although there were as many opinions as 
there were men regarding the course which we ought 


52 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

to steer, all hands appeared positive that we would 
soon have an opportunity of measuring strength with 
the Frenchmen. 

Miles lounged from one group of sailors to another, 
striving to hear what every one thought of our chances, 
until he came to understand, as I already did, that we 
were on the eve, perhaps, of an action. 

Then the lad came forward to where I was sitting 
with my back against a bulkhead timber. 

“ It begins to look like business, eh ? ” he said, with 
what he evidently intended should be a smile, but 
which was in fact a most ghastly grin. 

“All hands believe we’re like to have our work 
cut out for us, now the schooner is free-footed, so to 
speak,” I said, watching him narrowly, determined 
to learn whether his fine words had been used to 
hide a heart even more cowardly than mine, if, in- 
deed, that could be possible. 

“ It hasn’t seemed to me that our commander is a 
terrible fire-eater,” he said, as if asking a question. 
“Of course he isn’t such a hot-head as to engage any- 
thing very much stronger than the schooner.” 

“For your sake, I hope he will,” I replied gravely. 

“ Why do you say ‘ for my sake ’ ? ” Miles asked 
almost angrily. 


ON BOARD 


53 


“ Because you have set your heart on a battle with a 
frigate at the very least, in order to show of what stuff 
you’re made. Now I’ll venture to say there are many 
frigates in these waters, any one of which will readily 
give us the opportunity of seeing what can be done 
toward capturing her.” 

There was no mistake this time but that Miles turned 
pale ; he did not so much as look at me, but kept his 
eyes fixed on the lines of folded hammocks as he said, 
evidently trying hard to keep his voice from trem- 
bling : — 

“While I hope the Enterprise may have good luck 
on her first cruise. I’m not such a fool as to wish she 
might engage with a craft heavier than herself. If 
Lieutenant Shaw is wise, he’ll hold back, instead of 
pushing the schooner forward.” 

“To what end.?” I asked with a laugh. 

“ So that we may be ready to give assistance to the 
heavier vessels. In case of an action, this schooner 
would be of great service to a frigate, even though she 
doesn’t amount to much when taken by herself.” 

“Sail ahoy!” was the startling cry that put an end 
to our conversation, and in a twinkling every man jack 
below was doing his best to force a passage up the 
narrow ladder ahead of his comrades. 


54 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

He who had shouted down through the hatchway 
that hail from the masthead, doubtless did so in a 
spirit of friendliness for his messmates ; but Miles 
Partlett did not look upon the matter in that 
light. 

“ What fool was it who screeched at such a rate ? ” 
he asked. “ I reckon the officers of this schooner can 
attend to their own business without any help from 
him.” 

“It was Jethro Leighton who gave us the hint,” a 
sailor, who had overheard Miles’s ill-natured remark, 
said with a laugh. “ I’ll tell him that your nerves ain’t 
as strong as when we were in the Delaware River, or 
Salem harbor, and ask him to whisper his good news 
next time anything of the kind turns up.” 

“ I was only joking,” Miles said feebly, realizing the 
kind of an overhauling he might get in case Jethro 
came to learn what he had said ; and by this time the 
throng was so thinned out, as the old shell-backs 
scrambled into the open air like so many monkeys, that 
we lads were able to get to the ladder. 

At first I could not discern anything; the sea was 
running high, and there was a certain haze on the 
water which dimmed one’s vision. 

“ Where is she, sir ? ” I asked, making my way to 


ON BOARD 5 5 

where Master Jethro was standing near the weather 
bow, well forward. 

“Yonder, lad! You can only make her out when 
we jump to one of these ’ere surges.” 

“Is she an enemy, do you think.!*” 

“ I’ll take my ’davy on it, though she’s showin’ 
Spanish colors. Now we’ll give her a look at the stars 
an’ stripes, to see how she likes ’em.” 

Miles came to my side just as our ensign was broken 
out, the wind holding it straight and stiff against the 
sky in such a manner that it was impossible the 
stranger could make any mistake as to our being 
Yankees. 

We were rapidly overhauling the brig, for so she soon 
showed herself to be, and I watched anxiously to see if 
our ensign had any effect on her. 

She made no change of colors, but held her way ; 
and Master Jethro cried with delight: — 

“ She’s a Frenchman, lads, an’ carries no more than 
eighteen guns ! ” 

“ Eighteen guns I ” Miles repeated, his face showing 
pale even against the spray which flew over us; and 
wheeling quickly about, he went below at a rapid 
pace. 


CHAPTER III 


At St. Thomas 



HE knowledge that we were chasing an enemy 


so excited and confused me that I actually forgot 
to be frightened, even though now was come the time 
when we would soon begin to smell burning powder. 

When Miles Partlett cried out in alarm on learning 
that the stranger carried eighteen guns (six more than 
did the Enterprise\ I was momentarily startled into 
a realization of the danger which menaced, but 
straightway forgot all else in my anxiety lest the brig 
should be able to draw away from us. 

As if in a dream I heard one of the seamen near 

me say in a low tone to his mate : — 

“ Her metal is like to be heavier’n ours, an’ we 
may have a day’s work cut out for us.” 

“ Ay, but we’ll take her in tow at the wind-up. I 
allow, what with six more guns, an’ most likely all 
1 2-pounders, she’s twice our weight; but as the cat 

said to the cow when she was out catchin’ rats, 

‘Size don’t cut sich a terrible figger in work of this 


kind.’ ” 


AT ST. THOMAS 


57 


Save for my almost overpowering fear lest the 
enemy should outstrip us in the race, I would have 
shown myself the coward I really was, when it became 
plain that the brig was fully twice our size; but in 
the nervous excitement which sent a fellow’s blood 
tingling in his veins until it was on the point of 
bursting through the skin, I did not realize what might 
be the end of the chase. 

It was as if I hardly breathed while the gallant 
little schooner crept up inch by inch on the brig ; but 
even in the wildness of the fever which had beset 
me, I felt a certain curiosity to know why we, who 
were out after Frenchmen, should be pursuing a craft 
which carried the Spanish ensign. 

Perhaps I asked the man who stood nearest me 
for an explanation, or it might have been that the 
sailors were discussing the matter among themselves ; 
I cannot speak with certainty because of the delirium 
into which I had fallen, but positive it is that I 
heard one of the crew say : — 

“ They’re showin’ that ensign for a blind. If the 
brig was a Spaniard, she’d soon give us to understand 
as much, an’ not take the chances of havin’ some of 
her spars carried away.” 

Then I came to believe beyond a doubt that we 


58 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

were giving chase to one of the enemy ; but yet failed 
to realize that soon, very soon, unless some of our 
spars carried away, the guns would be discharged, 
and I should be in the midst of an action, betraying 
rank cowardice or performing, in some fashion or 
other, my portion of the work. 

I neither knew nor cared where Miles Partlett 
might be; Jethro Leighton was forgotten; the only 
real thing before my eyes was that brig, clothed in 
a cloud of glistening white canvas, leaping from 
surge to surge, like a frightened bird striving to 
escape from the hunter. A great fear came upon 
me lest she should give us the slip, and I wondered 
vaguely why our gunners did not try to cripple her. 

We gained slowly but surely, as I could tell when 
the crew cheered exultantly now and then ; the Span- 
ish colors remained at the main truck, however, and 
over our heads the stars and stripes flamed like a 
meteor against the clear blue sky. 

Then I saw a sudden burst of flame, followed by 
a puff of smoke, burst from one of the stranger’s 
after ports ; it was possible to distinguish a black 
missile in the midst of the wool-like vapor, as it came 
straight toward us, and then a crash, the splintering 
of timbers, a shower of fragments, a sharp cry of pain. 


AT ST. THOMAS 


59 


The chase had opened fire, and a 12-pound shot 
had struck our rail just abaft the mainmast, cutting 
its way through the oak planking as a knife cuts 
through cheese. 

At last I was facing an enemy who had shown 
his teeth, and into my mind came a wonderment 
because there was no fear in my heart. 

I was only conscious of a fierce desire to see our 
gunners at work; and believing this first shot would 
be the signal for us to open fire, I shouted fiercely 
again and again, raging because the schooner re- 
mained silent. 

Now, after many such scenes, I know that the 
fever of battle was upon me ; the scent of burning 
powder went to my brain until I was no longer an 
ignorant lad, fearing lest he should disgrace himself, 
but simply something in the form of a human being, 
thirsting eagerly for blood. 

Another cloud of smoke; a solid shot came scream- 
ing and whistling over my head, cutting through 
the standing rigging, and sending up a column of 
water as it sank in the sea ten fathoms away. 

Then came the call to quarters, and I ran to my 
post joyously, but almost ignorant of what I did. 

I fernember that old Jethro caught me by the col- 


6o THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

lar as I stood near one of our forward guns yelling 
in rage and excitement, and whirling me around that 
he might look full in my face, said in a tone of 
thorough satisfaction : — 

“ I knew your talk about bein’ a coward was all 
guff, lad ! Your father’s son couldn’t be different 
from what you’re showin’ yourself, an’ I’ll take back 
all the harsh words I’ve ever spoken.” 

Wrenching myself free from his grasp, hardly 
understanding his words, I squeezed my body between 
one of the guns and the port timbers that I might 
have a better view of the chase, giving no heed 
whatsoever to the danger, and remaining there while 
the enemy fired three more shots, one of which car- 
ried away a portion of our rigging forward, while 
the other two whistled overhead. 

Then some one pulled me inboard, threatening 
direst punishment unless I went to my post of duty, 
and sullenly I obeyed, sore and angry because of be- 
ing unable to see all that might be going on to make 
up the action. 

By this time, as I afterward learned, the schooner, 
having stood on close hauled until she was well on 
the brig’s weather quarter, was in position to deliver 
a broadside, and our little craft reeled and quivered 


AT ST. THOMAS 6 1 

from the recoil as six of her guns were discharged 
almost at the same instant. 

From this moment I lost all consciousness of self ; 
there was dimly in my mind the fact that our guns 
were being loaded and discharged with the utmost 
rapidity; that I ran here or there in obedience to 
orders which I do not remember of having heard ; 
that we were enveloped in burning, pungent smoke. 
It was also borne in upon me like a dream, that 
overhead, and all around, timbers crashed and 
splintered ; that the rigging, cut by shot, swung 
and cracked in the air, and that I heard cries of 
pain. 

I understood in some mysterious manner that the 
enemy was suffering from our fire, and such knowl- 
edge gave me sweetest pleasure. 

Then, suddenly, the uproar died away, and I found 
myself standing amid the splintered timbers of the 
forward bulkhead, with old Jethro’s arms around 
me. 

“ I’m proud of you, lad, although it was no more 
than should have been expected from Sam Burton’s 
son. You’ve shown yourself a true-blooded Yankee, 
who not only knows how to do his duty, but does it 
in proper fashion.” 


62 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“Have we taken the brig?” I cried, giving no 
heed to the old man’s words, though later I was 
proud because of them. 

“No, lad, we’ve both got enough of, the scrimmage 
for the time bein’, seein’s how she must really be a 
Spaniard.” 

“How do you know that?” 

“ She’s kept her ensign flyin’ all the while ; an’ un- 
less it was hers by right, she’d have run up the frog- 
eater’s colors.” 

“ But why did she open fire ? ” 

“That’s what we can’t figger out, lad. It was 
what you might call an accident. Most likely she 
thought to frighten off a little craft like the Enter- 
prise^ so’s to have a chance of chucklin’ in her 
sleeve; but by this time it has been shown that we 
don’t scare very easily.” 

“ How many of our men were hurt ? ” I asked, not 
fully understanding his explanation. 

“Only three were scratched, and they ain’t knocked 
about badly enough to go into the sick-bay. I only 
wish that white-livered Miles Partlett had come to 
grief.” 

Until this moment I had given no heed to my 
comrade, but now I asked eagerly : — 


AT ST. THOMAS 63 

“ Where is he ? I don’t remember having seen 
him since we began to overhaul the chase.” 

‘‘An’ the reason is that the coward hasn’t shown 
himself from that minute. I saw him sneak down 
for’ard when Bill True sung out that the brig carried 
eighteen guns. He’s one of those curs who amount 
to nothin’ but wind.” 

“ I don’t blame him for bein’ afraid,” I said sooth- 
ingly, having great sympathy for a coward because 
of being one myself, save, perhaps, when the excite- 
ment of an action threw me into a fever. “You 
know. Master Jethro, how I felt about signing arti- 
cles for a vessel of war.” 

“There’s a big difference ’twixt you an’ him, lad. 
You counted yourself a coward, an’ showed up in 
grand style when the battle was on ; but Miles Bart- 
lett claimed to be wonderfully brave, an’ hadn’t heart 
enough to stay on deck till the first gun was 
fired.” 

“ It’s too bad ; I pity the poor fellow,” I said with 
feeling, for I could understand all that was in his 
heart when he ran below. 

“Wait till he shows his head again, an’ then he’ll 
see what opinion the crew of the Enterprise has of 
him,” Jethro replied in a menacing tone, and at that 


64 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

point the conversation was interrupted by the orders 
to set about repairing damages. 

When all hands were busily engaged, plugging this 
shot hole, or splicing that piece of running rigging 
which had been severed, one could understand how 
much the little schooner had suffered in the fight 
which, as I was afterward told, did not continue 
more than twenty minutes. 

She was cut and splintered as if having been 
under the guns of a 74-gun frigate, and I was filled 
with wonder and 'amazement that any of us were 
yet alive. 

To look at the gallant little schooner’s wounds, one 
would have said that if no more than half her crew 
had been killed or wounded, it was indeed fortunate; 
but yet our casualties amounted only to three, and 
these three were so slightly injured that they re- 
mained in the cock-pit barely long enough for their 
wounds to be dressed. 

After this I felt positive my fear of being killed 
in an action would be less in the future, for I real- 
ized, as old Jethro had said, that “it isn’t every shot 
which finds its billet.” 

We had the satisfaction of knowing that the brig 
had suffered even more than the Enterprise. She 


AT ST. THOMAS 


65 


was lying hove-to about three miles away, with her 
crew working like bees to bind up her wounds; and 
as an old shell-back said while gazing at her, “If 
she’d been a Frenchman, our prize crew would be 
aboard by this time.” 

We had proven ourselves and the schooner ; from 
this moment every soul on board would have more 
courage, for we had come to know that the little 
craft might be handled like a canoe, and none of our 
men, with the exception of Miles, could be fright- 
ened into showing the white feather. 

There was no good reason why I should not feel 
proud of myself, even though my behavior was the 
result of nervousness or fever. I hoped that I would 
be attacked in a similar fashion when next we met 
the enemy ; for while self is wholly forgotten, any one 
can be brave. 

Before the end of an hour it was understood by 
all that we would be forced to make port in order 
to refit after the needless engagement, and I heard 
one of the midshipmen say that our commander had 
decided to run into St. Thomas. 

As soon as the little schooner was in condition to 
be gotten under way, a course was laid for the 
island, both watches working industriously meanwhile. 


66 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


in order to repair, so far as possible, the damage 
done our rigging and hull. 

When I went below to turn in that night. Miles 
Partlett had not shown himself. More than one of 
the crew had threatened to go into the hold and 
“ smoke him out ” ; but because of the labor neces- 
sary, none of the weary men carried their threat into 
execution, and the lad remained in hiding. 

But for the fact that I was stiff and sore in every 
joint from having pulled and hauled continuously 
from the time the action came to an end until the 
moment when it was permitted my watch to go 
below, I would have sought for the lad who, as I 
knew, must be thoroughly ashamed of himself, as 
well as hungry. 

I had just lost myself in slumber when I was 
aroused by a hand laid over my mouth, and on ris- 
ing to my elbow, I saw by the dim light that Miles 
had come out of his hole. 

“ Don’t speak,” he whispered warningly. “ I 
reckon all hands are down on me because I went 
below before the fight began.” 

“ What made you ? ” I asked, disregarding his 
warning. “You claimed that you only wanted a 
chance to show what it was possible to do.” 


AT ST. THOMAS 


67 


“ But that was too much of a chance/’ he whined. 
“ What business had Lieutenant Shaw to put us 
alongside a craft almost twice as heavy as the 
schooner ? ” 

“ But surely you don’t expect he will sneak around 
till he finds something weaker than the E7iterprise!' 
I said, surprised that he should try to lay blame on 
our commander. 

“ He’s got no business to take such great chances. 
How many were killed.^” 

“ Not one, and only three scratched so slightly 
that they’ve been on duty ever since their wounds 
were dressed.” 

“ What } ” he cried incautiously loud. “ It’s no use 
to try to fool me, ’cause I could hear the shot strike us.” 

“ The schooner is knocked about badly ; but there 
wasn’t blood enough shed to make the smallest kind 
of a puddle. We’re heading for St. Thomas now, 
to refit.” 

“ Going into port, eh ? ” Miles said thoughtfully, and 
added, after a brief pause, “ Say, I don’t want you to 
think that I was so awfully scared. At first I counted 
on laying low till I got the hang of things ; but I was 
coming up if I found that the Frenchmen were having 
the best of us.” 


68 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ It took you a good while to find out if we were 
safe,” I replied, angry because he was trying to make 
me believe such a yarn. “ All hands have been work- 
ing like slaves since the last gun was fired, and you’ve 
skulked in the hold, taking your ease.” 

“ If I was wanted on deck, why didn’t somebody 
come after me ? ” he asked sulkily. 

“ It is well for you. Miles, that you weren’t hunted 
out, for the men would have made it mighty hot. 
More than one proposed to search the hold, and it 
would have been done, too, but for the fact that every 
fellow was busy and tired. The starboard watch are 
still tinkering on the schooner, and we who have just 
turned in will have another whack at it when our time 
of duty comes.” 

The lad must have understood by my tone that I was 
angry with him, for he turned away silently, and I, not 
minded to add to his sorrows, for it went without say- 
ing that he was feeling sore in mind, called him back. 

“ I know just how you felt. Miles, when you found 
that we were like to tackle the brig, and I’m not blam- 
ing you so severely for trying to get out of harm’s way. 
That you should attempt to clear yourself of the scrape 
by telling a deliberate falsehood, is what sticks in my 
crop.” 


AT ST. THOMAS 


69 


“ There’s no good for you to put on so many high 
and mighty airs,” he said peevishly. “ I’ll be bound 
your heart was in your boots.” 

“So it was till I forgot myself, and then I didn’t 
know what happened. I’ve no idea of trying to crow 
over you, and would have done my best to keep some 
of the men quiet, if you had come out and done your 
share of the work after the engagement was over.” 

“How could I tell but that the Frenchmen had cap- 
tured the schooner ? I wasn’t such a fool as to show 
myself till I knew what had happened.” 

It was useless to talk with him, for he had shown 
himself to be even more of a coward than I, and what 
was worse, if possible, had shirked work when every 
man on board, even including the officers, bent all 
their energies to the task of repairing the mischief 
which had been done. 

I turned over in my hammock as token that, for my 
part, the conversation was come to an end ; and Miles 
sneaked away to his quarters, moving softly lest he 
should attract the attention of his messmates. 

To my surprise, it was broad day when I next awak- 
ened. My watch went on duty at midnight, and I 
should have heard the signal, regardless of my weari- 
ness. Now I would be looked upon as a skulker, 


70 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


which is the meanest term which can be given a lad or 
man aboard ship ; and one can well fancy my feelings, 
after having but lately been puffed up with pride 
because of being praised for what I did not really 
deserve. 

I turned out in short order, although I knew full well 
that all the members of my watch were below again, 
and crept softly to Jethro Leighton’s hammock. 

The old man opened his eyes just as I came up, and 
without waiting for me to speak, said banteringly : — 

“ I reckon you thought the part you took in the 
action was enough to give you an extra trick below, 
eh .? ” 

“ I didn’t hear the boatswain’s whistle ; but it 
wouldn’t have put you out very much to give me a 
shaking.” 

Jethro could see plainly that I was angry, and he 
said soothingly, after indulging in a hearty laugh : — 

“ It’s all right, lad. We didn’t count on your turnin’ 
out. Mr. Wadsworth gave orders to leave you below.” 

I opened my eyes wide in astonishment. Mr. Wads- 
worth was our second lieutenant; and although I had 
been detailed to his watch, he never appeared to know 
that there was on board a boy who answered to the 
name of Paul Burton. 


AT ST. THOMAS 


71 


“ It's a fact, lad,” Master Jethro added, seeing the 
look of incredulity in my eyes. “You did yourself 
credit yesterday, an’ from this on you’ll find that all 

hands rate you as more than a boy aboard, even 

though you’re so set down on the ship’s papers.” 

“ I was no more tired than were you, and could 

have done my share of the work.” 

“ That’s all straight, lad. We had a hand in your 
place ; one who is standin’ both watches for a spell.” 

“ What do you mean ? ” I asked, thinking the old 
sailor was making sport of me. 

“We found that little cur of a Miles Partlett in 
his hammock as if he had been an honest lad, an’ 
kinder persuaded him to go on deck with us. You 
can count it as a dead sure thing that he did his 
share of the work while our watch was on duty, and 
then we turned him over to them as relieved us. 
They’ll keep him movin’, or I’m a Dutchman, which 
I ain’t! ” 

“ Then he has been on duty all night ! ” I cried in 
distress, for it pained me to know that the lad was 
being abused. 

“ I wish he had been ; but we didn’t sight him 
till just before our watch was turned out, so he’s 
only done his share since midnight.” 


72 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ With every man jack aboard jumping down on 
him, I suppose ? ” 

“Well, they ain’t handlin’ him like he was eggs, 
an’ that’s a fact,” Jethro said with a laugh of satis- 
faction. “ Poke your head above the hatch-combin’s, 
an’ see how he’s gettin’ along.” 

There was no idea in my mind of showing myself 
as if exulting over the poor fellow’s misery, there- 
fore I peered out cautiously, and saw him holy-ston- 
ing the deck. 

The fact that he was the only person thus em- 
ployed told that the lad had been kept at the task 
after the job was finished for the day, and he had 
the mortification of knowing that his labor was 
useless. 

Some of the men passed him as I looked out, and 
each in turn struck at or kicked him, as an intima- 
tion to work faster. 

It was not a pleasant sight to gaze upon, and I 
went below, thinking that but for the partial uncon- 
sciousness which came over me with the odor of the 
burning powder, I might at that moment be working 
at his side, despised by all on board. 

Two hours later, when our watch was called, I 
found Miles scraping the anchor cable, and looking 





1 PEERED OUT CAUTIOUSLY AND SAW HIM HOLY-STONING THE DECK." 



AT ST. THOM A"* 73 

as if he had lost every friend, which came very near 
being the truth. 

As soon as it was possible I went up to the poor 
fellow, hoping to relieve him in some slight degree 
by a kindly word ; but it appeared as if he counted 
me among his enemies. He would make no reply, 
however softly and fairly I spoke, and finally I was 
forced to leave the sulky lad alone. 

Shortly afterward I observed that Master Jethro 
said something to him, and half an hour later the 
lad disappeared, therefore I knew the old sailor had 
taken pity upon him. 

Not once during the run to St. Thomas could I 
coax a word from his lips ; and during all that time 
he was forced to wait upon every member of the 
crew who came across him, while I was treated in 
the most friendly fashion, much to my sorrow, for I 
knew Miles would count me as trying to lord it over 
him when, as a matter of fact, I could not have 
changed the condition of affairs by even a hair’s 
breadth. 

Indeed, I begged those of the crew with whom I 
was best acquainted to let up on the lad, arguing 
that he had been more than punished for what he 
could not help; and some of the men, among whom 


74 the cruise of the enterprise 

was Master Jethro, promised to forget the cowardice 
he had displayed unless he should sin in the same 
manner again. 

I did not succeed very well in my purpose, how- 
ever; for while I pleaded with eight or ten, the re- 
mainder of the crew used him roughly, and it was 
impossible for me to prevent it. 

Once we were in port. Master Miles had an easier 
time of it, although even then he could not have 
found very great enjoyment in life. 

There was so much to be done, and so many 
strange things to be seen, that the crew had no time 
to spend on a single lad ; and I did not again 
attempt to renew our friendship, because I had 
great cause to be disturbed in mind regarding the 
future. 

We had found in port a French lugger, three 
masted, and carrying the same number of guns as 
did the Enterprise. This vessel had put in for pro- 
visions ; and since. St. Thomas was a neutral port, we 
could only look at our enemies savagely, while we 
threatened as to what we would do in case both ships 
were outside. 

It was said that the Frenchman carried an hundred 
men ; but even if she should have had half as many 


AT ST. THOMAS 


;5 

again, our people would have counted that we were 
about equal in strength, and all longed most fervently 
for a meeting on the open ocean. 

Of course the members of both crews were given 
liberty ashore ; but our people were threatened with 
the direst punishment if they provoked a quarrel in 
the town, and the result was that Yankee and French- 
man would pass on the streets scowling furiously, but 
neither daring to make even a threatening gesture, 
for the frog-eaters had probably received much the 
same orders as we of the Enterprise. 

It surely was enough to irritate the best-natured 
Yankee that ever lived, to see an enemy so near and 
be unable to strike a single blow ; but our crew man- 
aged to avoid an actual encounter, and while on board, 
spent the greater portion of their time telling what 
might be done if Lieutenant Shaw would give them 
liberty without restrictions for a single evening. 

We were surprised to see the lugger at anchor 
after she was provisioned, and our men pushed for- 
ward the work of refitting with the utmost celerity, 
hoping we might get into trim to follow her when 
she left port. 

Then, one day, when we were nearly ready for sea, 
and I was standing amidships with Jethro Leighton 


76 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


looking at the Frenchman, we saw a boat put off 
from her and pull directly toward us. 

“ What kind of a game are they up to now ” I 
asked in surprise. “ It can’t be possible the captain 
of that craft is such an idiot as to think he may 
make a friendly call on Lieutenant Shaw ? ” 

“It’s somethin’ better than that, lad,” Jethro 
replied gleefully, “ an’ after this I’ll give the frog- 
eaters credit for behavin’ somewhere near like men.” 

I could make nothing of his words, and told him so 
plainly, whereat he said in a tone of great content : — 

“ Look at the officer in the stern-sheets of that gig. 
Can’t you see he’s rigged out in his best togs.?” 

“ Well, what of that .? ” 

“A good deal, my boy. He’s cornin’ with an 
invitation from his captain to meet them outside. As 
the swells ashore would put it, he’s bringin’ a chal- 
lenge; an’ I’ll bet a penny’s worth of silver spoons 
that our commander will give him all he wants.” 

“Then you think we’ll have a chance to fight the 
lugger.?” I asked, my heart growing heavy, for the 
old feeling of cowardice was coming upon me again, 
and now was I terrified after having seen what treat- 
ment a Yankee crew would deal out to one who 
showed the white feather. 


AT ST. THOMAS 


77 


“ Do I thinic we’ll fight him ? I know it, lad ; an’ 
what’s more, we’ll send that same lugger into Boston 
harbor with a prize crew aboard.” 

Even as Jethro spoke, the boat from the French- 
man came alongside; the officer in the stern-sheets 
hailed, speaking in broken English, and asked per- 
mission to come aboard with a communication from 
his commander. 

There wasn’t a man among us who did not under- 
stand exactly the reason for this visit, and every shell- 
back wore a grin of welcome when the officer, with 
yards upon yards of gold lace covering his uniform, 
came over the rail. If he had been the President of 
the United States, our people could not have been so 
well pleased at seeing him ; and I noticed that our 
officers treated him as if he was a particular friend. 

He went below, escorted with due ceremony, and 
came on deck again ten minutes later, when all on 
the quarter-deck saluted as he leaped into his boat. 

There was no need for the marine stationed aft to 
tell us why the visitor had come, although our old 
barnacles insisted on hearing all that was said and 
done. 

“ It’s like this, lad,” Jethro said to me after he, 
with two or three cronies, had heard the story. “The 


78 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Frenchman was polite as a basket of chips, an’ 
begun his business by hopin’ our commander was 
well. He found that out mighty soon, an’ then he 
said his captain would be exceedingly well pleased if 
Lieutenant Shaw would meet him outside as soon 
as the Enterprise was in fightin’ trim. Well, per- 
haps Lieutenant Shaw didn’t agree to do anything 
in that line that would suit the frog-eaters ! He 
wasn’t to be outdone in fine words, though, an’ 
instead of tollin’ the fancy officer that we’d wipe the 
ocean up with the lugger in about half an hour, he 
said he’d go wherever suited the Frenchman.” 

“ Then we are really going to fight ? ” I asked, 
grown stupid with surprise and fear. 

“Why, of course we are, an’ it’ll go way ahead of 
what follows at the end of a long chase, for every- 
body will be in prime condition. Jest turn it over 
in your mind, Paul, my boy! We’re to run out; 
the Frenchman follows; there’ll be a bit of manoeuv- 
rin’ for position, an’ at it we go, hammer an’ tongs, 
till the lugger hauls down her colors.” 

“To hear you talk, one would think your whole 
life had been spent on a privateer or government 
vessel,” I said almost petulantly. 

“ It don’t need much trainin’ to make a man feel 


AT ST. THOMAS 


79 


like whippin’ an enemy, my boy,” Jethro replied, 
feeling so happy that my petty show of irritation 
could not affect him. 

I went below, where it would be possible to con- 
sider the matter without being interrupted by the 
rejoicings of our men, — for it was as if every one 
of them had suddenly been crazed ; and, once alone, 
I looked at the situation with as much calmness as 
possible. 

It was useless to disguise the fact that I had had 
a narrow escape from being set down as a coward 
on the day we met the Spaniard. If the fever had 
not come upon me, I might have joined Miles in his 
hiding-place ; and was it probable that I would be 
so fortunate again } 

In fact I felt positive that when next we met an 
enemy, I would be literally paralyzed with fear, and 
then my messmates must know me for what I 
really was, — a fit comrade for Miles Partlett. 

The perspiration streamed down my cheeks as all 
these thoughts came into my mind, and I was mighty 
near to crying when Jethro Leighton came below. 

“ Hello, what’s goin’ on here ? ” he cried on seeing 
me. “Why ain’t you on deck, celebratin’ the visit 
from the frog-eater with the gold lace?” 


So THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

At this late day I do not understand how I man- 
aged to pluck up sufificient courage to tell Jethro 
all that was in my mind, but I did succeed in do- 
ing so, however; and when I was come to an end 
of the shameful story, the old man laughed until 
the tears rolled down his cheeks. 

“ Scared, eh ? Count that you’re going to make 
the same show Miles Partlett did.^ Well, listen to 
me, lad, while I tell you that every man who has 
any decent backbone about him, feels a certain fear 
when he’s goin’ into action. I’ve heard many a 
brave fellow talk just as you’re talkin’, an’ when the 
time came, do exactly as you did the other day. I 
don’t have any fear that you’ll disgrace us, for you 
haven’t got it in you to make sich a fool of yourself 
as Miles did ; so come on deck, an’ see our lads 
plumin’ themselves over what’s to happen within the 
next two or three days.” 


CHAPTER IV 


The Lugger 

A A ^HILE I did not fully believe all Jethro Leigh- 

^ ’ ton said to me when I was weighted down with 
apprehensions regarding the future, his words heart- 
ened me wonderfully, and I almost came to believe 
perhaps I might once more appear to be brave, 
although it would be necessary that I have another 
attack of the fever. 

In obedience to his command I followed the old 
man on deck, and arriving there, stood like one bewil- 
dered, for the scene which met my gaze was indeed 
strange after the discipline which had been main- 
tained on board the schooner. 

The old shell-backs had, for the time being, given 
themselves wholly up to the most extravagant demon- 
strations of joy; and the officers, quite as highly elated 
but ashamed to make any public display, winked at 
the proceedings by remaining below in order not to 
see what was going on. 

The work of refitting had momentarily come to an 

G 8i 




82 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


end, that our people might celebrate the reception of 
the challenge and its acceptance, and every man jack 
was cutting some antic or another to give proof of 
his joy because of what was to happen in the near 
future. 

On one portion of the deck two old shell-backs 
were waltzing after the most approved style; in an- 
other place three or four were dancing a hornpipe, 
each striving to outstrip the other, and elsewhere the 
men were leaping or darting around like children — 
perhaps it would be better to say, like monkeys. 

Every face save one was radiant with joy, and that 
single gloomy countenance belonged to Miles Partlett, 
who was not allowed to join in the festivities, but 
forced to continue at the task of slushing down the 
standing rigging, while now and then one man or 
another would make the most dismal threats as to 
what should happen if the lad showed the white 
feather again. 

With such a scene around me I forgot myself en- 
tirely, and most likely made as big a guy of myself as 
did the others, although now and again the thought of 
what might come in the future caused my face to grow 
pale with a fear which I did not dare to show. 

When this celebration had been continued nearly 


THE LUGGER 83 

an hour, Mr. Wadsworth came on deck, and immedi- 
ately order was restored. 

Those who had been singing the loudest, or dancing 
the most furiously, were straightway transformed into 
the demurest of sailormen, and work was resumed 
where it had been dropped when the lace-bedecked 
Frenchman came on board. 

Our people had no sooner set about their several 
tasks, however, when suddenly the lugger was decked 
out with flags, intended, no doubt, to show us that 
her crew was quite as well pleased as we at the pros- 
pect of a fight. 

It was a display of rejoicing which we could not 
pass by in silence, and two or three of the older men 
held a hurried conversation with Jethro Leighton, 
after which he beckoned for me to join them. 

It was a great compliment for a lad like myself to 
be summoned to a private interview with sailors like 
Jethro’s companions, and I obeyed the signal, feeling 
every whit as well pleased as if suddenly called for a 
friendly chat by one of the officers on the quarter-deck. 

“Look here, lad,” old Jethro began as I stood by 
his side, “ we’re of the mind that it would look shabby 
if we didn’t dress ship when that ’ere lugger has gone 
an’ got herself rigged out like she is. You’re standin’ 


84 the cruise of the enterprise 

pretty well with Mr. Wadsworth since the scrimmage 
with the Spaniard, an’ we want you to ask the favor 
of runnin’ up our colors in answer to them what are 
floatin’ yonder.” 

I was indeed complimented by having been chosen 
as spokesman, and yet considerably disturbed in mind 
at the idea of asking a favor from the lieutenant, 
who had never given the slightest sign of being aware 
that I was on board the schooner. 

However, it would not do to linger after the men 
had made known their desires, and I went aft slowly, 
feeling almost certain the officer would refuse to hold 
any conversation with me. 

It can well be imagined that by this time I was 
sailorman enough not to venture very far aft without 
permission, therefore I planted myself near the break 
of the deck, where Mr. Wadsworth could hardly fail 
to see me when he turned to come forward. 

To my great surprise he beckoned at once for me 
to approach ; but when I stood before him, cap in 
hand, I could not utter a single sensible word. 

“ Well, lad, what is it ? After giving us an exhi- 
bition the other day of what you could do in the 
way of fighting, you should be able to speak , in 
proper fashion.” 


THE LUGGER 85 

This salutation gave me courage, and after stutter- 
ing a bit, I managed to say : — 

If you please, sir, the men want to hoist our 
colors in answer to those displayed by the French- 
man.” 

“And they think the commander likely to grant 
you a favor sooner than he would them, eh.?” 

“ I believe, sir, they thought if anybody was to get 
into trouble for asking such a thing, it would better 
be me than either of them.” 

This answer seemed to strike the lieutenant as be- 
ing very comical, for he laughed heartily, and said a 
few seconds later : — 

“ Wait here a moment. Commander Shaw’s reply 
shall be given through you.” 

Then he went below hurriedly, and I could see out 
of the corner of my eye that every member of the 
crew, even including Miles, was watching me closely. 

In a very short time Mr. Wadsworth returned, and 
said in a low tone, in order that I might be the first 
to tell my shipmates the good news : — 

“You have liberty to dress the schooner with all 
her bunting, and she may wear her finery until we 
leave the harbor to engage the lugger.” 

I came very near forgetting to thank the lieuten- 


86 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


ant ; but, fortunately, remembered my manners in 
time to say that which was proper, after which I 
walked forward proud as any peacock. 

The men crowded around me when I was forward 
of the mainmast, and after hearing the word I 
brought, sent up such a cheer as must have been 
heard on the Frenchman’s decks. 

Then, in a twinkling, the little schooner was decked 
out with all her finery ; and when this had been done 
work was resumed once more, every man doing his 
best, for all hands believed that the sooner we got 
into sailing trim, the sooner we would have an oppor- 
tunity of showing the frog-eaters what could be done. 

On this night, for the first time since he had been 
in disgrace. Miles Partlett came to me just as I was 
turning in, and said in a whisper lest the men near 
about should overhear him : — 

“ See here, Paul, I’m having a mighty hard time 
of it aboard this schooner, and if I should run away, 
no one could blame me.” 

“ But every one would. Miles,” I replied quickly, 
frightened because the lad should even contemplate 
doing such a terrible thing. “ You can pull yourself 
through all this trouble by trying to stay at yoiir 
post when next we go into action. It would be 


THE LUGGER 


87 


dreadful to have the word ‘ deserter ’ written opposite 
your name on the articles. You couldn’t go home 
again, and what would become of you } ” 

“ I’m sick and discouraged at being picked upon 
by every sailor aboard,” he said, giving evidence of 
being about to sulk. “You wouldn’t stand such 
treatment ! ” 

“ I’d try to change things. Miles, and that is what 
you must do. Get out of your head the idea that 
you can desert, and show the crew you know how 
to behave.” 

“ Suppose that I am really afraid to stay at my 
post when there’s any fighting going on.^” he asked; 
and my heart ached for him, because I knew there 
was no difference between us. 

I had only seemed to be brave because I didn’t 
really know what was going on, while he failed of 
being attacked by the fever. It was simply a matter 
of chance as to which of us first showed the white 
feather. 

Then I tried to tell him how I had felt when we 
went into action with the Spaniard, and urged that 
he stand to his post no matter what happened, when 
next we were sent to quarters. 

“ We’ll soon be ready for sea, and then is your 


88 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


chance to make a change in affairs, no matter how 
frightened you may be. We will engage with the 
lugger in less than three days, so Jethro declares, and 
you haven’t long to wait.” 

“ That’s the worst of it ! ” he said in a tearful 

voice. “ Perhaps if we had more time I could get 

used to the idea; but it’s terrible to think that she’ll 

soon be trying to kill all hands of us ! ” 

“ Do the best you can,” I said consolingly. “ Stick 
close by me, and I’ll help you to stand your 
ground.” 

He shook his head disconsolately, as if to say that 
which I had asked was impossible, and went to his 
hammock, leaving me feeling mighty sorry for him. 

During the next six and thirty hours the crew of 
the Enterprise worked most industriously, each man 
spurring on his neighbor by reminding him that we 
could not engage the Frenchman until the schooner 
was in trim once more ; and then came the hour 
when the Yankee vessel was ready for sea. 

The colors had remained flying on both ships, and 
therefore we could not set a signal to show that the 
Enterprise was in condition to leave port; but Com- 
mander Shaw knew how to arrange matters in proper 
fashion. 


THE LUGGER 


89 


On the morning of the day when we understood 
that all arrangements had been made, the crew of 
the captain’s gig was called away, and Mr. Wads- 
worth, togged out within an inch of his life, went 
over the rail to take his place in the stern-sheets. 

The men did not dare to cheer ; but I saw the 
older fellows hugging each other, and in many ways 
acting like monkeys, therefore I asked for an explana- 
tion from old Jethro. 

“ Don’t know what it means, eh ” he repeated, 
stepping high, as if finding it impossible to keep his 
feet on the deck. “ Didn’t you see Mr. Wadsworth, 
lookin’ fit to kill, set off in the gig ? ” 

“Ay, sir, I saw that much.” 

“Well, he’s gone to tell the captain of the lugger 
that we’ll meet him anywhere he pleases. We’ll be 
under way in an hour, lad, an’ then you’ll see the 
fight of your life, unless the frog-eaters lose the cour- 
age they had when the challenge was sent!” 

Jethro could not stop to give me further informa- 
tion, for the first lieutenant was issuing orders thick 
as huckleberries in a pasture lot, and even a green- 
horn might have seen that the Enterprise was being 
put in trim for getting under way. 

“ We’re going out right soon ” Miles found oppor- 


90 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


tunity to whisper in my ear a few moments later, 
and the statement was in the tone of a question. 

That’s the way it looks. There’s Mr. Wadsworth 
going over the lugger’s rail this minute, and when 
he comes back we’ll know whether the Frenchman 
can go out for a sail to-day.” 

“ And you don’t feel a bit frightened ? ” 

I was angry with the lad for asking such a ques- 
tion. Until that moment I had given no heed to 
what might happen ; but thought only that we were 
about to take the first prize of the cruise. Now he 
had spoken, however, the cold chills ran up and 
down my spine as I realized that very soon, most 
likely, I would be standing face to face with death. 

“Look here. Miles Partlett,” I said sharply, “you 
must put an end to this hunting after trouble, or 
you’ll succeed in making me remember myself ! 
Don’t think of the danger until it’s close aboard, and 
perhaps by that time you can’t understand it ! Wait 
till we’re lying alongside the lugger, and then see 
what’ll happen.” 

“ It’ll be too late then to do anything,” he whined, 
and my irritation increased. 

“ It’s too late now, for that matter ! ” I cried an- 
grily. “ You couldn’t get ashore, even if you had 


THE LUGGER 


91 


fully decided to desert, therefore employ your mind 
in some other way than by searching for danger.” 

Mine was not the kind of advice Miles wanted, 
and he turned away as if in a rage, while I strove 
to the utmost of my power to prevent cowardice 
from creeping into my heart 

There was no need to ask a single question when 
Mr. Wadsworth returned. The expression on his 
face told that he had found the Frenchman ready; 
and even though we had not seen the officer, one 
glance at either of the gig’s crew would have been 
sufficient. All of them were grinning like apes, and 
our men knew the reason. 

Some one began to cheer, and in an instant our 
fellows were yelling like madmen, stopping only when 
the commander came on deck. 

He waited to hear Mr. Wadsworth’s report, and 
then stepping to the break of the quarter, looked 
down on his crew, for every man jack of them had 
gathered amidships, as if it was their right to be told 
the news. 

“The captain of the lugger has declared his will- 
ingness to meet us five leagues off the coast,” Com- 
mander Shaw said, by way of beginning. “It isn’t 
necessary for me to urge that every man do his full 


92 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


duty. Your eagerness to meet the enemy has shown 
your intention and desire ; therefore, instead of trying 
to excite you, I shall indulge in a word of caution. 
Don’t be too certain of the victory, although there 
can be no question but that we shall win one. Work 
leisurely, taking careful aim, and watch like hawks 
for some mistake of the enemy by which you can 
gain an advantage. It only rests with us as to 
whether the stars and stripes float from the French- 
man’s masthead this night; and unless I’m greatly 
mistaken in your disposition, we’ll hoist them there 
before the sun sets.” 

Our people cheered again and again when the com- 
mander ceased speaking, and after letting them get 
their fill of noise, he waved his hand for silence. 

“To your posts, now, and see that every order is 
obeyed on the instant, for a good portion of victory 
depends upon how the vessels are handled.” 

Then Mr. Wadsworth, having changed his fine uni- 
form for an old suit of clothes, came forward to re- 
peat the commander’s orders, and in a twinkling we 
were getting the little schooner under way. 

I did more than my share of the work which fol- 
lowed, for by keeping my fingers employed I might 
prevent myself from looking forward to the danger. 


THE LUGGER 


93 


There was no question in my mind, and all the 
others were in the same way of thinking, but that we 
would be alongside the lugger in a couple of hours 
at the very longest; and it stood me in hand to screw 
to the sticking-point what little courage I had. 

Not until the schooner was under way, gliding like 
a breath of air out of the harbor, did I chance to 
see Miles Partlett, and after the first glance I groaned 
aloud. 

The frightened lad was standing like one petrified, 
near the starboard rail, looking shoreward, as if ask- 
ing himself whether it would not be best to leap over- 
board, than remain and take his chances of death when 
the shot began to fly. He would have had but little 
difficulty in swimming ashore, and I was really afraid 
he might attempt some such mad scheme. 

The sight of him brought once more to the surface 
all my cowardly fears, and I knew full well if I spoke 
with him, his words would only serve to remind me 
that I was thoroughly frightened by the prospect of 
taking part in another fight. However, I could not 
see him disgrace himself for life without making at 
least one effort to save him ; and I went toward the 
lad, realizing that he would dishearten me at the very 
moment when I most needed a spur. 


94 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ Why not find something with which to busy your- 
self?” I asked in a whisper. “Almost any one could 
work himself into being a coward by doing nothing 
save speculate upon the chances of being killed.” 

“You’re so brave that it appears as if every other 
person should be able to show the same gallant spirit,” 
he said mockingly ; and I took no offence at the 
remark, knowing he but sought an outlet for his 
nervous fear, which, as I understood full well, might 
be lessened by indulgence in angry words. 

“ I am not minded to repeat again and again that 
my heart is cowardly,” I said sharply ; “ but certain 
it is that I, or any other, would work mischief by 
brooding over one disagreeable thing. Put from your 
mind, as I am trying to do, the thought that we are 
standing out to do battle. Set about some task which 
demands your entire attention, and you will be taken 
by surprise when the first gun is fired.” 

He turned away as if impatient because I tried to 
aid him, and it seemed worse than useless to press 
acceptance of my advice where it was not wanted ; 
therefore I set about following my own precepts. 

The men were, as may be supposed, in the highest 
spirits, although I noted the fact that each strove to 
repress any demonstration ; and there was no little 


THE LUGGER 


95 


balm in the thought that perhaps some of them found 
it necessary, as I did, to force down a timorous heart 
lest disgrace might follow. 

Jethro watched me narrowly as I sought here and 
there for something with which to occupy my hands, 
and understanding why I needed work of some sort, 
called my attention to this or that trifling duty which 
might be performed. 

In trying to lend assistance, he came near para- 
lyzing me with terror by putting me to the task of 
strewing the gun-deck with sand, — a duty which I 
had never before seen performed ; but knew full well 
its meaning. 

Lest the decks should be rendered slippery by our 
blood, the planks were to be covered with sand to 
prevent those who remained unhurt from getting a 
fall, and the thought that I might be making ready 
something to soak up my own life fluid was rather 
more than I could contemplate calmly. 

Then, to make a bad matter worse, while I was 
working and at the same time striving earnestly to 
keep back my timorousness. Miles Partlett came up 
curiously, as he asked : — 

“ What are you doing with that sand ” 

I would have avoided the question for his own 


96 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

sake ; but he insisted upon an answer until in turn 
I lost my temper, and gave him a full explanation. 

He turned pale around the mouth, as might have 
been expected, and hurried away as if I was his mor- 
tal enemy, instead of a lad who suffered mentally 
quite as much as did he. 

Perhaps I am writing at too great length upon such 
matters, which at the time seemed very important to 
me, and it is well if I put a stopper on my pen so 
far as Miles and myself are concerned. 

The Enterprise was run off shore to the distance 
agreed upon, and there rounded to in waiting for her 
antagonist. 

As could be told by the aid of glasses, the lugger 
yet remained at anchorage, and the first thought was 
that her captain had found it necessary at the last 
moment to send ashore for something which was 
needed, hence the delay in making sail; therefore our 
people waited patiently. 

As a matter of course, those of us forward were 
obliged to depend upon the officers for information 
as to the Frenchman’s position, because common 
sailors are not such swells as to carry nautical 
glasses, and we knew full well, as the moments went 
by, that the lugger yet remained motionless. 


THE LUGGER 


97 


It was not necessary to ask any questions ; the 
expressions on the faces of the expectant officers told 
that she had not weighed anchor. 

When an hour had passed and the frog-eaters had 
not made a move, our men began to jaw among them- 
selves, speculating as to why the enemy, who had ap- 
parently been so eager a few hours previous, was now 
behaving as if no antagonist remained within sight. 

Then came the order to fire a gun as signal that 
we were ready and waiting; but not a movement was 
made by the lugger. 

As we learned later, her flags were flying all the 
while in token of willingness to meet us, yet she re- 
mained at anchor. 

Another hour passed and all was as before. Now 
our men began to accuse the frog-eaters of coward- 
ice, and those who had been most noisy in their 
demonstrations of joy when the challenge was brought, 
spent their breath in heaping reproaches upon the 
entire French nation. 

Noon came ; dinner was served out in order that 
we might not be called upon to fight while our 
stomachs were empty, and the meal was eaten hur- 
riedly, lest the enemy should come before it could be 
finished. 


H 


98 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Again a signal gun was fired ; but, as we who 
stood forward could tell right well by the expression 
on the faces of the officers, the lugger remained at 
anchor as if she had never thought of coming out to 
tackle the Yankees. 

At the end of two hours more we stood well in 
toward the harbor, fired another gun, and then 
hauled around for the rendezvous which had been 
appointed by the frog-eaters themselves. 

Then it was that all hands could see the lugger 
plainly. Her flags yet floated from the mastheads, 
a lying token that she was ready to fight, but never 
a move was made toward getting under way. 

Among all our crew there was only one who re- 
joiced because the Frenchmen had fooled us with a 
show of bravery they never experienced, and that 
one was Miles Partlett. During the first hour of our 
waiting for the enemy, he remained near the forward 
hatch as if it was his purpose to seek the shelter of 
the hold before a gun could be fired, and his cheeks 
were ghastly pale. 

When our people began to have suspicions that 
the enemy had sent a challenge which he hoped we 
would not accept. Miles lounged amidships, and the 
color returned to his face, only to leave it again as 


THE LUGGER 


99 


we stood in toward the harbor; but when we went 
out for the second time, and it was almost certain 
the Frenchman intended to remain at anchor, he 
put on a great show of bravery, strutting forward 
and aft as if ready to meet single-handed any person 
who wanted to fight. 

A wiser lad would not have made any effort at 
attracting attention under the same circumstances ; but 
Miles had a very small amount of common sense, and 
swaggered to and fro until old Jethro lost all patience. 

“ Look at yonder chicken ! ” he cried sufficiently 
loud for all to hear, as he pointed at Miles. “Two 
hours ago he was tremblin’ like a cur, an’ now that 
we seem to have lost a chance to fight because the 
frog-eaters have swallowed their courage, he’s swellin’ 
till there’s danger of explodin’. We’ll remember 
these high airs, an’ give him a fine show to distin- 
guish himself when next the Enterprise goes into 
action. I’ll agree to lash him to the bow gun so 
there’ll be no fear of his sneakin’ into the hold.” 

Before Jethro, ceased speaking Miles had wilted ; 
he made such a sudden change of front that all 
hands burst into a roar of laughter, and from that 
time until our watch was sent below, the lad kept 

well out of sight. 

L^fC. 


100 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


Well, to make an end of the lugger, I will say 
that we remained at the proposed distance from the 
shore until night had fully come, and our enemy did 
not put in an appearance, much to the disappoint- 
ment of all hands, even including myself. 

There was not a man aboard with whom I had 
any conversation, who failed to make the most dread- 
ful threats as to what he would do in case we came 
across that lugger again where we might legally 
attack her ; and it is safe to say, also, that never one 
among us even dreamed our time would come so 
soon. 

At eight bells we bore up and ran to leeward of 
St. Croix, and before midnight had brought to a 
small brig which proved to be an American trader 
captured two days before by a French cruiser. 

She had on board a prize crew of six men, and 
her own crew were confined below, it being the in- 
tention of the victors to set the prisoners ashore at 
St. Thomas; but we were sighted outside, and the 
Frenchmen did not dare take the chances of trying 
to slip in without our knowledge. 

If the cowardly lugger had come out to meet us 
according to her own proposition, this prize might 
have been run in while we were engaged ; but as it 


THE LUGGER 


lOI 


was, we took possession of her, for as a matter of 
course the prize crew made no attempt to resist us, 
and before sunrise the Frenchmen were prisoners, 
while the brig’s proper crew were sailing her for an 
American port. 

We had accomplished something through the coward- 
ice of .the lugger, and this fact went far toward con- 
soling us because we failed of an opportunity to make 
the capture which, a short time previous, had seemed 
so certain. 

During six and thirty hours we stood off and on 
near St. Croix, and then all the blood in my body 
went tingling through my veins as the lookout 
shouted : — 

“Sail ho!” 

“ Where away ? ” asked the officer of the deck. 

“ Two points off the weather bow, sir.” 

“Can you make her out.^*” 

“She has the look of a Frenchman. A small 
cruiser, near about our size, I should say, sir.” 

It is impossible for me to paint properly, and with 
a pen, the picture which ensued. 

It was about two hours after noon, and two-thirds 
of the men were below when the lookout first hailed; 
but before he had come to an end of his information 


102 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


every man jack was on deck gazing eagerly in the 
direction indicated, all hands wagging their tongues 
- at the same time. 

The excitement was not lessened when Lieutenant 
Shaw went aloft with his glass, and after gazing 
intently at the stranger for a matter of two or three 
minutes, he came down looking uncommonly happy. 

It would have been a hard-hearted man who could 
have passed that collection of faces, on every one of 
which was written an eager question, without giving 
some information, and our commander was not the 
one to keep his crew in unnecessary suspense. 

“Jam her up a couple of points, Mr. Wadsworth,” 
he cried to the second lieutenant, and added, as he 
turned to face his men : “ Yes, lads, she’s a cruiser, 
and we’ll hope her officers have stouter hearts than 
those who command the lugger. I should say we 
could overhaul her; but it’ll be a long chase, unless 
she’s willing to accommodate us.” 

Then went up from our crew a cheer which would 
have drowned the roar of cannon, and those delighted 
old shell-backs darted at once to this halliard or that 
downhaul, knowing full well what the first order 
would be. 

In a twinkling our schooner was covered with a 


THE LUGGER 


103 


cloud of canvas; every sail that could be made to 
draw was put on her until she was more like a cloud 
of whitest muslin than an engine of destruction. 

This was the first time we had had occasion to 
press the little craft, and she came fully up to the 
expectations of those who had declared her to be a 
“ clipper.” 

Her sharp stem sheered through the green waves, 
sending up a jet of white spray nearly to the figure- 
head, while the swirl of waters swept aft on either 
side with race-horse speed, and meeting astern, 
formed a milky line straight as an arrow, for those 
who had by this time been called to the wheel were 
the best helmsmen to be found in or around Salem. 

Often had I heard my father tell of the excitement 
to be found in a chase of this kind ; but I never 
realized one-half the thrill and tremor which comes 
upon a fellow as he watches the performance of his 
own dainty craft, while comparing her with the vessel 
pursued. 

There were times when the gallant little schooner 
up-reared on the crest of a wave showing a goodly, 
portion of her fore-foot, and I literally held my 
breath, fearing lest she would fall off the course 
when the next plunge was made. 


104 thz cruise of the enterprise 

I need have had no fear regarding those old shell- 
backs who stood, one either side the wheel like 
statues, watching sharply the needle of the compass, 
and holding the vessel to her course with not so 
much variation as could be measured by the breadth 
of a hand. 

Fresh-water sailors often talk of the exhilaration 
of sailing a small craft with plenty of wind ; but no 
one can even imagine the emotions which come at 
such a time as was this. 

I found no opportunity to think of what would 
happen at the end, when we were alongside the chase. 
Had a third vessel been pursuing, and pitching shot 
after shot into us, I could not even then have given 
any heed to the danger, so thoroughly was I en- 
grossed with the race. 

There was no thought in my mind for Miles, and 
it would have been, for me, as if he never had an ex- 
istence; but old Jethro must needs remind me that 
the fellow was yet on board. 

“ That little coward is at his tricks again,” the old 
man said angrily, as he came up to where I was 
standing. “ When a lad can make a show of himself 
at such a time as this, you may set it down for a 
fact that his spine is built of mush instead of bone/’ 


THE LUGGER 


105 


I turned and saw Miles standing near the forward 
hatch, gazing around uneasily, and displaying every 
evidence of fear, even though with the best of good 
fortune we could not hope to come up with the 
enemy for two hours or more. 

Even then, when he should have been lifted out of 
himself, so to speak, by the on-rushing motion, which 
is like unto nothing save flying, he was speculating 
upon the danger which the future might possibly have 
in store for him. 

I no longer had any pity for a lad like him, and 
said sharply, forgetting that I myself was a coward : — 

“ It gives a fellow a bad taste in the mouth to look 
at him standing there gazing ahead for trouble, in- 
stead of enjoying what’s around him.” 

“Ay, that it does, lad,” Master Jethro replied with 
a gesture of impatience, “an’ I’m hopin’ he’ll fall 
overboard some fine day when it won’t be possible to 
launch the boats ! ” 


CHAPTER V 


Brave Frenchmen 



HE enemy was doing his best to get away from 


* us, although he must have been aware by this 
time that there was little or no difference between 
us either in size or weight, and I said to Master 
Jethro, as we two stood well forward watching the 
chase : — 

“ So far as I have seen, the Frenchmen appear to 
be afraid of fighting. The prize crews we have taken 
yielded without even the shadow of resistance ; the 
lugger challenged and then backed down, although 
she was the stronger, and now this fellow is doing 
his level best at showing us his heels.” 

“Ay, lad, all you say is true, and yet there are 
brave Frenchmen to be found, as you’ll learn if the 
Enterpnse has good luck. We haven’t had what you 
might call a fair try at ’em yet. The prize crews 
would be fools to show fight, when, as a rule, they 
don’t number more’n a dozen all told, an’ they on 
board a merchantman. The lugger is the first real 


io6 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN IO7 

coward we’ve run across, an’ why she didn’t come 
out beats me. I might have thought that she wasn’t 
in good trim, short of ammunition, or awkward to 
handle, but for the fact that she deliberately chal- 
lenged us.” 

“ They hoped to make such a show of fight that 
we’d back down, and thus give them a chance to 
crow over us,” I replied with a laugh, for the cow- 
ard in my heart was sleeping soundly just at this 
time. “ That fellow ahead isn’t any too willing to 
make our acquaintance.” 

“ But we can’t accuse him yet awhile of bein’ faint- 
hearted,” old Jethro said, evidently in the humor to 
apologize for the shortcomings of his enemy. 
“ There’s no knowin’ what shape he may be in, an’ the 
man who stands up to fight when he ain’t in proper 
trim is a fool.” 

“ It looks as though this fellow would be called upon 
to show what he can do, or to haul down his colors ; 
we’re coming up with him hand over hand.” 

“Ay, lad, that’s what we’re'doin’, an’ before nightfall 
it’ll be a case of fight or surrender for him.” 

Our schooner proved that she was a very witch for 
sailing; she overhauled the chase in a manner that 
caused surprise even among those who had declared 


to8 the cruise of the enterprise 

she was a clipper, and fully an hour before sunset the 
race had come to an end. 

We ran up directly in the stranger’s wake until it 
was possible to bring our bow-chaser to bear, and I had 
forgotten to be cowardly until the moment the gunner 
began to aim his piece. 

Then a cry of derision from some of the crew, as 
Miles hurriedly went below, brought me to a momen- 
tary realization of my own shortcomings. 

It was only for a few seconds, however, that I gave 
any heed to the possibility of disgracing myself, for all 
was forgotten when Jethro cried excitedly: — 

“Now we’ll see what they’re made of!” 

Then the gun was discharged with so true an aim 
that I saw the missile leap aboard just above the helms- 
man’s head, traverse the entire length of the schooner 
at a height of not more than three feet above the 
deck, and go crashing through the rail on the weather 
bow. 

The only gun which the chase could bring to bear 
upon us was the aftermost on the port side, and this 
piece I watched with a certain sensation of fear, expect- 
ing each instant to see a dense cloud of smoke leap 
from .its muzzle in token that a ball bearing the French- 
man’s compliments was on its way toward us. 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


109 


Not until this moment were we ordered to quarters, 
and as I went below, it was with a decided inclination to 
hide myself before the shot should come aboard. 

Then it was I understood full well all that was in the 
mind of Miles Partlett when he fled regardless of every- 
thing save the fear in his heart ; and I venture to say 
that but for the lesson I had gained from his experi- 
ence, I would at that moment have given my ship- 
mates good reason to call me a coward. 

I tried to reason with myself that one portion of the 
schooner was as secure as another, for the ball would 
go in whatsoever direction the gun was aimed, and a 
fellow in the hold stood quite as many chances of death 
as did the officer on the quarter-deck. 

During five minutes or more I was most uncomfort- 
able in mind, but succeeded in doing my duty without 
making too sorry an exhibition of myself ; and then, as 
the schooner’s bow was payed off that we might give 
them a broadside, our men began to cheer. 

“ What’s up } ” I asked of the sailor nearest, and he 
replied gruffly: — 

“ Look through yonder port, an’ you’ll see that she’s 
struck without firin’ a gun. If we’d left Salem for the 
sole purpose of findin’ cowards, I reckon you could call 
this cruise a bloomin’ success. The Frenchman carries 


1 10 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


ten guns at least, an’ didn’t pluck up spirit enough to 
let us hear the sound of one.” 

“It’s a saving of powder for us,” I replied cheerily, 
thinking what a fool I had made of myself for giving 
way to fear when there was absolutely no danger. 

“Ay, lad, it’s all right when you look at it from the 
economical point ; but it’s much like stealin’ to overhaul 
prizes like this. I’d have more respect for the frog- 
eaters if they’d stand up like men for their own.” 

How little did that old shell-back, who grumbled be- 
cause of missing a fight, dream that when we did finally 
run across a crew of brave Frenchmen, for there were 
many afloat, he would be one of the very first to fall ! 

Commander Shaw was not the man to waste time, 
even though there was no other sail in sight, and in 
ten seconds after the enemy’s flag had been struck, a 
prize crew was told off to take possession of our new 
property. 

The chase proved to be the schooner La Sirene, 
ten guns and seventy-nine men, and had her captain 
been so disposed he might have given us a hard rub, 
for her pieces were so much heavier than ours that 
the strength of the two vessels was about equal, 
while La Sirene had the advantage in holding the 
weather-gage of us. 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


I 


We sent aboard eight men and a midshipman to 
carry her into port, and because of such small crew, 
it became necessary to transfer all the prisoners to 
the E7iterp7'ise at the expense of no slight discomfort 
to our people, for with seventy-nine men to care for 
forward, and six officers quartered aft, it was snug 
stowing. 

Jethro explained to me that the officers would be 
put on parole not to attempt to escape, therefore 
they were at liberty to move about in comparative 
freedom ; but the crew was to be confined in our 
lower hold, where was neither light nor fresh air. 

“Yes, it stands to reason that they’ll find the quar- 
ters uncomfortable ; but it’ll teach ’em to fight the 
next time they have a tight little schooner under 
their feet,” old Jethro said in reply to my question, 
and I added : — 

“We couldn’t have done differently by them, no 
matter how brave a defence had been made.” 

“True for you, lad; but they’d felt better in mind, 
knowin’ a stiff kick had been made to hold their 
own. Look at that white-livered Miles, will you ! ” 

The prisoners were being brought on board twenty 
at a time, and my comrade had so far recovered 
from his fears as to be on deck near the gangway. 


I 12 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


much as if he had been ordered to attend to the 
embarkation. He swaggered to and fro, acting for 
all the world as if the capture of the prize was due 
wholly to his efforts, and finally fell to bullying the 
prisoners as they were sent below. 

At this stage of the game Jethro took a hand by 
belaboring Master Miles with a rope’s end, and, fol- 
lowing his example, others of our crew assisted until 
the lad was glad to seek shelter below. 

We laid by La Sirhie until nearly midnight, trans- 
ferring the prisoners and taking out the greater por- 
tion of her ammunition, together with two guns which 
could be used as bow-chasers for the Enterprise, 
after which the two ships parted company, our prize 
to stretch away for New York or Boston, according 
to circumstances, and we laying a course for St. 
Kitts, as had been previously agreed upon. 

We made port within four and twenty hours, and 
at once began putting on board a supply of water 
and provisions. The Yankee squadron which Com- 
mander Shaw had expected to find here was not to 
be seen, and instead of loafing at anchor, we set sail 
the following day, hoping to pick up another prize 
before meeting our countrymen. 

Our duties on shipboard were changed considera- 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


II3 

bly on account of the prisoners. It had been the 
purpose of our commander to leave the Frenchmen at 
St. Kitts ; but to this the authorities of the port 
would not agree, and we were obliged to go to sea 
with what old Jethro called “ a full cargo.” 

Because of this, six men from each watch were 
told off to care for the “ cargo,” and, much to my 
displeasure. Miles and myself were among the num- 
ber, which meant that we two lads would do all the 
work, while the remainder of the guard did nothing 
but order us here and there according to their fancy. 

It was not for me to complain, however, and I put 
the best face possible on the matter, while Miles was 
overjoyed at the idea of being allowed to spend the 
greater portion of his time at a safe distance from 
those who were constantly racking their brains in the 
effort to make life a burden for him. 

“ Are we to stay down there day and night r* he 
asked of me after the draft had been made, and I 
referred the question to Jethro, who said with an air 
of exceeding wisdom : — 

“ You’ll be called on to keep an eye out pretty 
much all the time, except when we go into action, 
an’ then it’ll be a case of clappin’ the hatches on. 
Rations will be served by the cooks, an’ three times 


1 14 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

a day you lads may feel obliged to move lively in 
order to feed the boarders. I see that Joe Staples 
is detailed to head the gang of keepers, an’ you’ll 
find out from him exactly what your duties are.” 

Staples was an old sailor whom I had known in 
Salem, and, with the exception of Jethro, the one 
man above all others of our crew in whom I felt 
perfect confidence. He was a thorough seaman, had 
made two cruises in a privateer under my father’s 
command, and was counted to be square and honest. 

Before we left port he called the guards together 
and mapped out each man’s duties. Six of the 
older seamen were to stand guard continuously, mak- 
ing two-hour watches, which kept three men con- 
stantly on the lookout against any attempt at escape. 
Miles and I were to supply the prisoners with food 
and water, and two of the men had been detailed to 
aid in bringing the provisions from the galley. It 
also devolved upon us lads to act as messengers for 
the Frenchmen when they had complaints to make, 
or desired to communicate with any of their officers ; 
therefore, as can readily be seen, it was not likely 
we would have much spare time on our hands. 

In event of an action it was arranged by Master 
Staples that the prisoners should be locked into the 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


II5 

four cages which served as the schooner’s prison, 
and the hatches of the lower hold closed and barred, 
in order that all hands might take part in the 
fighting. 

This last portion of the programme did not please 
Miles, and he said to me privately : — 

“ Staples is making a big mistake when he counts 
on leaving the prisoners alone during an action. 
That is just the time when they ought to be looked 
after the most carefully, because it would be all up 
with us if the crowd got loose when we had our 
hands full with the crew of another vessel.” 

“ And you would like to be detailed as guard dur- 
ing such time,” I said, laughing at his scheme for 
sneaking. 

“Well, I’d rather stay here than on deck, and 
that’s a fact; but all hands are making a big mis- 
take if they think I don’t dare to stand up to the 
guns like a man. It’s when we tackle a vessel bigger 
than the Enterprise that I get scared.” 

“ All we have met thus far were about our own 
size,” I ventured to suggest. 

“ They were heavier, according to all accounts.” 

“And you claim that if we met one carrying the 
same weight and men, you could do full duty } ” 


Il6 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“Of course I would.” 

“Tell that to Master Staples, and I dare say he’ll 
give you orders to stay below when matters are not 
to your liking.” 

Whether Miles ever acted upon my advice I am 
unable to say, because the time was so near at hand 
when he gave ample proof that he could not stand 
to the guns no matter how small was the enemy. 

The task of waiting upon the prisoners was not at 
all to my liking. It gave me pain to see the poor 
fellows, even though they were enemies, deprived of 
their liberty, and besides, I knew full well that they 
suffered many discomforts because of the lack of space 
in which to take exercise. They were penned up in 
cages where never a glimpse of the sun might be had, 
and forced to breathe the foul air of the hold, which 
could not be purified unless we had spent the time and 
money to rig up windsails, and such work was not to 
be thought of under the circumstances. 

When we left St. Kitts it was with the belief that 
we might cruise around a week or more before sight- 
ing an enemy, therefore I tried to settle down con- 
tentedly to the dull task of guarding prisoners, but it 
was no easy matter to put on a cheerful face under 
such circumstances. 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


II7 

To the joy and surprise of all, particularly in my 
own case, a sail was sighted within four and twenty 
hours after leaving port, and soon we learned that 
the Enterprise had in chase a small French cruiser 
carrying not more than four guns. 

She was a small craft indeed, but an enemy, and 
would add to our list of prizes ; therefore the neces- 
sary time in which to take her must be spent, al- 
though all believed it was only a question of so many 
hours as would be required in which to overhaul 
her. 

That she would make any resistance, no one so 
much as dreamed. Thus far we had found the 
Frenchmen ready and almost willing to strike their 
colors, even when they were strong enough to hold 
us in check quite a spell ; therefore if any one had 
predicted that this fellow might give us a hard fight, 
he would have been looked upon as a very poor kind 
of prophet. 

It so chanced that I was on deck getting a whiff 
of fresh air when the officers made out the size of 
the schooner to leeward of us, and I went straightway 
to Miles Partlett, saying, when we were within 
speaking distance : — 

“ Here’s a chance for you to distinguish yourself, 


Il8 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

lad. We are running down on a little bit of a 
schooner which mounts only four guns, and therefore 
can’t carry more than half our number of men. By 
sticking to the deck this time you’ll see a Frenchman 
strike his colors, and it would be well to have the 
opportunity of saying, when we are back in Salem 
again, that you really witnessed such a scene.” 

“ How do you know her size to such a nicety ? ” 
Miles asked, as if suspicious that I might be playing 
him a trick. 

“ I heard Mr. Wadsworth, who has been aloft, tell 
the first lieutenant. Of course she won’t attempt to 
fight us, and you can make a great show of bravery 
without running any risk. Ask Master Staples if 
you may stay on deck until we’ve taken the enemy, 
and he’ll begin to believe that you’re a regular fire- 
eater.” 

Miles reflected a moment, during which time he 
looked me straight in the eye, to make certain I was 
not deceiving him, and even then was so cautious as 
to go on deck in order to learn all the particulars 
for himself, before venturing to be put on record as 
wishing to take part in a sea-fight. 

Ten minutes later he returned looking very well 
pleased, and said with a swagger : — 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


1 19 

“ That vessel won’t make a mouthful for the Enter- 
prise ; she’s no larger than a small fisherman. Jethro 
Leighton says most likely she’s nothing more than 
a smack that has been armed to capture the small 
craft around these parts.” 

“ And you are satisfied that there can be no danger 
in remaining on deck until she is our prize.?” I asked, 
and it was impossible to repress a certain feeling of 
contempt for so cowardly a lad. 

“You’ll find that I can hold my own with the best, 
when it comes to attacking a vessel somewhere near 
our size,” Miles said valiantly, and the words had no 
more than been spoken before Master Staples came 
down the ladder. 

“Ask him now,” I whispered, and Miles made the 
request in much the same tone as if he had proven 
himself to be the hottest firebrand among us. 

“ Grown brave since you’ve found out that the 
chase won’t make half a mouthful for us, eh .? ” the 
old sailor said with a sneer. “ I reckon you’re countin’ 
on gettin’ credit for wantin’ to be at the guns when 
you know they won’t be fired, — except, perhaps, to 
signal the frog-eaters that they must heave to.” 

“Any fellow is likely to be frightened at times,” 
Miles said, with a whine, “ and you’ll never know 


120 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


what I can do if you keep me below. How do we 
know the little vessel won’t show fight ? ” 

“ It ain’t reasonable to suppose she’ll engage a 
schooner three times her size,” Master Staples said 
contemptuously. “ However, you may go on deck 
an’ get such credit for showin’ yourself at this time 
as the crew are willin’ to give. I reckon, Paul,” he 
added, turning to me, “ that it wouldn’t go agin the 
grain if you had a chance to see the little prize round 
to under our guns ? ” 

“ It isn’t probable that I’ll be needed, but of course 
I’d like to go on deck,” I replied with due respect. 

“ Very well, be off with you ; but keep your eye 
on that white-livered Miles, for if somebody happened 
to fire a pop-gun by mistake, he’d fall in a fit.” 

“ Perhaps you’d like to have me help put the 
hatches on, sir,” I ventured to suggest, whereupon 
Master Staples said with a laugh : — 

“ Bless you, lad. I’m not countin’ on takin’ that 
trouble. There won’t be any fightin’, an’ it’s needless 
to make so much work for ourselves. Get along on 
deck an’ pick up all the fun you can out of the 
business.” 

One can readily suppose that I did not linger in 
that dismal hold many seconds after the permission 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


I2I 


had been given ; and by the time Miles had taken up 
his station well forward, as if to direct matters, I was 
standing by Jethro’s side. 

He was considerably disgruntled because Master 
Staples had allowed the lad to come up when it was 
a foregone conclusion that the enemy would make no 
resistance, and after much grumbling, said finally : — 

“ It’s only givin’ him a chance to plume himself on 
takin’ part in a capture, when we know full well he 
wouldn’t show his nose above the hatchway if there 
was any danger of our firin’ a gun.” 

I was not disposed to take up the cudgels in behalf 
of Miles, therefore made no reply ; but went forward 
where I might the better see what was taking place. 

The little schooner was making a brave effort to 
escape from us, and she was no mean sailer for a 
craft of her size. The Frenchmen were carrying 
every rag of canvas that could be shown to the 
breeze, and handling her like skilled seamen; but 
all that did not prevent us from overhauling her in 
fine style. 

Before I had been on deck half an hour she was 
almost within range of our bow-chasers, and there 
was no longer any question as to her strength. 

She had but four guns, mounted two on e^ch side 


122 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


of the open deck, and one would have said that she 
could not overpower a party of marines in a long- 
boat, if it so happened that the men could use their 
muskets fairly well. 

Miles, satisfied that the enemy was very, very weak, 
shouted and bawled as if it was his duty to animate 
the crew into attacking a 74-gun frigate, and other- 
wise made himself so conspicuous that some of the 
men, who felt as if it was almost cowardly to tackle 
a craft so much our inferior, threatened to stop his 
noise with a wad of oakum well slushed. 

It was a difficult matter to check the lad, who 
^ firmly believed he was fully atoning for the lack of 
courage previously shown ; he continued his outcries 
until Master Jethro gave him a sound flogging, and 
even then he would break forth into spasmodic yells 
whenever it seemed safe so to do. 

Miles even stood erect when one of our bow guns 
was fired as a signal for the schooner to heave to ; 
but there was a look of perplexity on his face when 
the Frenchman stood on in utter disregard of our 
orders. 

So small was the enemy that the officers had not 
even thought it necessary to send us to quarters ; 
and when the first signal failed to attract attention. 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


123 


one of the gunners stepped forward, expecting that 
a second shot would be sent ahead of her. 

“ There’s no need of wasting the powder,” Mr. 
Wadsworth said with a laugh. “ We’ll have her 
alongside in ten minutes, and then I reckon she’ll 
understand her duty.” 

Miles was yet displaying his noisy courage, when we 
forged slowly past the little craft until she was under 
our broadside, and then the commander hailed : — 

“ Schooner ahoy ! What craft is that ? ” 

“The letter of marque La Seine of Bordeaux, four 
guns and fifty-four men.” 

Many of our people laughed at the valiant reply, 
which was given in fairly good English, for the cap- 
tain of the little boat had spoken as boldly as if his 
craft was a frigate at the very least ; but Commander 
Shaw went through the usual ceremonies of a meet- 
ing at sea between hostile vessels. 

“ This is the Enterprise^ twelve guns and eighty- 
three men. Heave to under our quarter.” 

“You must first show us why we should do so,” 
the Frenchman said boldly ; and our old shell-backs 
pricked up their ears in pleasure and surprise. 

Commander Shaw looked down at the little schooner 
as if in pity. Her crew were at quarters, much as 


124 the cruise of the enterprise 

though expecting a battle, and I glanced quickly at 
Miles. 

He evidently failed to understand the situation, and 
was gaping over the rail at our plucky enemy, with- 
out apparently knowing that there was a probability 
of a battle, one-sided though it must necessarily be. 

I will give you one more opportunity to surren- 
der,” the commander cried. “ It is useless for brave 
men to fight against overwhelming odds.” 

The French captain raised his hat politely, and 
Jethro said in my ear: — 

“ There’s what you might call a brave man, though 
I can’t say overly much for his wisdom. Blow me 
if I don’t believe we’ll have to fire into him ! I’d 
give a month’s pay if he was our equal in men an’ 
metal, for there’d be a power of glory in bringin’ 
such as he appears to be to terms.” 

Our commander stepped back to speak with Mr. 
Wadsworth, and I believed he was directing that 
officer to send the men to quarters, when the enemy 
let fly his port broadside of two guns with such effect 
that the splinters bristled from our starboard rail, and 
that sailor who, after the capture of La Sirhie^ had com- 
plained bitterly because the Frenchman struck without 
showing fight, fell dead almost at the feet of Miles, 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


125 


The lad gave vent to a shriek of fear which must 
have been heard on board the enemy, and ran aft 
at full speed just as the order was given for us to 
go to quarters. 

The enemy was reloading, and even though we had 
despised her because of her weakness, it could 
plainly be seen that we would be forced to purchase 
the victory, if one was gained. 

I was running side by side with Jethro as we went 
to our posts, and the old man said in a tone of 
genuine regret: — 

“ It’s a big pity that frog-eater hadn’t a frigate 
under his command, for he’s got plenty of pluck. If 
he’d been aboard La Sirene, we’d had a hot job.” 

At the earliest possible moment we let go a full 
broadside at the little boat, and she returned it in 
great style, her guns being aimed so exactly that 
three of our men were wounded by splinters. 

When the report of the guns had died away, and 
while all hands were reloading with the utmost haste, 
for now we were eager to inflict injury despite the 
difference in size, I heard a volley of screams from 
Miles Partlett, and, an instant later, saw him striving 
to lift the hatch leading to the lower hold. 

Master Staples had evidently fastened it down 


126 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


when the first gun was discharged, and Miles, who 
had counted on seeing a peaceable capture, found 
himself in the midst of a regular battle. 

“ Bring that sneak down this way ! ” Jethro 
shouted as he tugged at No. 2 gun. “ This time 
he shall have a taste of work such as he allowed 
would be his pleasure.” 

I did not have time to observe what was done 
with the lad ; I only noted that one of the men 
began dragging him in the direction of where Jethro 
stood, and that the fellow was screaming at the full 
strength of his lungs, when my name was called by 
Master Staples, which summons led me away from 
the scene. 

Then we had such a job on our hands that there 
was no time in which to watch the veriest coward 
who ever drew breath, for the enemy was fighting 
gallantly, sending every shot into us, and had they 
been our equals, I believe of a verity the Enterp}ise 
would have been forced to draw off for a time. 

I was neither frightened, nor did I have a severe 
attack of fever; the Frenchman was so weak that I 
could but wonder how long he would hold out, and 
felt eager to bring the affair to a speedy close in 
order that brave lives might be spared. I no longer 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


127 


exulted when a shot went home ; but felt sad because 
the colors still remained at the mastheads of the 
enemy. 

Twice within the next ten minutes were we struck 
below the water-line, and meanwhile our maintop- 
mast was carried away ; but we poured such a dose 
of iron into La Seine that she looked to be a wreck, 
although her guns were speaking with precision 
and regularity. 

As a matter of course such a one-sided fight 
could have but one ending, and in twenty minutes 
from the time the Frenchman fired his first broad- 
side, the little craft surrendered. 

When her colors were hauled down after such a 
gallant resistance, our men refrained from cheering, 
and Commander Shaw lifted his hat when he 
hailed to know if the schooner was badly cut up. 

Later, when the crew of the schooner was in 
line on her deck, the men of the Enterprise cheered 
them to the echo, and then it was that La Seine's 
captain saluted with the utmost politeness, saying 
as he did so : — 

“ We are fortunate in having met with such a gen- 
erous enemy.” 

“ It’s a poor sailor who doesn’t appreciate courage 


128 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


when he sees it,” Commander Shaw replied, and thus 
we poured out compliments like a lot of dancing 
masters, after having tried our best to kill each other. 

It was soon learned that La Seine was not cut up 
below as badly as was the Eritei'prise. Our shot had 
done more damage to her spars and rigging, while 
she had plumped at least four balls into our hull in 
such fashion that the carpenters were called away to 
plug the holes until we could put into port and make 
repairs. 

The French captain came on board our vessel, and 
after a long confab in the cabin, as we were told by 
one of the marines, it was decided that both schooners 
should lay a course for St. Kitts. 

The enemy had twenty-four men either killed or 
wounded, which was almost half her crew, and the 
remainder gave their paroles not to make any attempt 
to retake the vessel, therefore they remained at lib- 
erty on board their own craft. 

After our wounded had been attended to, the sur- 
geons from the Enteiprise went on board the prize, 
and there they remained when we got under way once 
more. 

Not until we were headed for port did I give any 
heed to Miles ; but then he was nowhere to be seen. 


BRAVE FRENCHMEN 


129 


The lower-hold hatch still remained down, therefore I 
believed he had not succeeded in getting below, and 
after a short search I became convinced that he was 
not on the gun-deck. 

In vain did I hunt for him ; none of the crew re- 
membered having seen the lad after he was dragged 
toward Master Jethro, and the old sailor declared that 
he had not touched him because at that time a shot 
had come through the port, scattering splinters in 
every direction. 

“ He must have been struck by the flying frag- 
ments and knocked overboard,” I said sadly, and 
Jethro agreed with me. 


K 


CHAPTER VI 


A Show of Treachery 


HEN it seemed to me positive Miles Partlett 



^ * was no longer on board the Enterprise^ I felt 
reasonably certain that instead of being knocked over- 
board by splinters, he had leaped over of his own free 
will, bringing about death by drowning, because his 
timorousness was so great that he could not endure 
the terror which seized upon him when the ship was 
in action. 

It was because of this belief that I did not make a 
more thorough search for the lad. He had threat- 
ened before to kill himself rather than take part in 
an action, and what was more reasonable to suppose 
than that he had voluntarily gone over the rail when 
we so suddenly found ourselves in the midst of an 
unexpected engagement ? 

I think the crew generally were satisfied rather 
than sad, when it was given out by old Jethro that 
the lad who had brought such disgrace upon himself 
was no longer alive. Death was the only means of 


130 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 131 

escape for Miles, and the one way by which the 
schooner could be freed of his presence until after 
she had returned to the home port; therefore, so the 
old sea-lawyers argued, it was the easiest path out of 
a most disagreeable difficulty. 

If Miles Partlett could have been there to have 
seen for himself what a slight ripple his departure 
made in our little world, he would have been griev- 
ously disappointed by the knowledge of his own 
insignificance, according to the opinion among the 
crew of the Enterprise. 

After the first comment upon his disappearance, 
which was generally a harsh one, no person gave 
any further heed to the boy who had made such a 
great display of cowardice. Within a space of two 
or three hours he was dropped out from among us 
as if we had never known that such a lad once 
lived. 

It was far different in the case of the seaman who 
fell under the enemy’s first broadside. His shipmates 
paused now and then amid their work of clearing up 
after the action, to remind each other of this or that 
good quality which had been displayed by the man 
who had lost the number of his mess; and every 
member of the crew seemed to consider it a positive 


132 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

duty to speak in a kindly way concerning him whose 
life had been the cost of the engagement 

While the French captain was in the cabin of the 
Enterprise with our commander, Master Jethro went 
into the cockpit to learn how many of our people 
were disabled, and there found that the little enemy 
had, in addition to killing one, wounded five, — none 
very seriously, to be sure, but sufficiently so to pre- 
vent them from reporting for duty within the next 
two or three days. 

Every able-bodied man on board was busy during 
the first two hours after we got under way, with the 
prize following close astern, and therefore it was that 
I had no opportunity of speaking with Jethro re- 
garding the disappearance of Miles. I believed, as 
has already been set down, that the lad had made 
way with himself, and was eager to have the old 
sailor’s opinion on the subject ; therefore as soon as 
the more important of the work had been finished, 
and permission given for the watch who ought to 
have been below to knock off work, I drew Master 
Jethro aside for the purpose of holding converse with 
him on that matter which was so very near my 
heart. 

Before I could ^ihake a beginning, however, one of 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 1 33 

the marines who had been stationed aft came for- 
ward with a bit of intelligence which he thought of 
the greatest interest, and straightway demanded the 
old sailor’s attention. 

“ We are like to get rid of our prisoners in short 
order,” he began, and Master Jethro pricked up his 
ears. “ Our commander has been discussing with the 
French officers the question of turnin’ them loose at 
St. Kitts.” 

“ We have tried that once, an’ found it didn’t 
work, so what’s the use of harpin’ away on it ” the 
old sailor said impatiently, for he was not minded to 
pay very much heed to second-hand opinions which 
had already been discussed by all the sea-lawyers on 
the gun-deck. 

“ Ay, man dear, so it has been tried ; but this time 
they’re to be landed on a different footin’, bein’ 
sent to jail for safe keepin’, since we’re allowin’ to 
run our little prize in for the purpose of makin’ her 
ready for a voyage to the United States, as we’ve 
the right even in a neutral port, an’ then convert 
her into a cartel for the exchange of prisoners. If 
such a plan works, we’ll clean out our lower hold in 
short order.” 

“We’re not likely to get rid of the frog-eaters so 


134 the cruise of the enterprise 

easily,” Master Jethro replied curtly. “You’ll find 
the authorities at St. Kitts up to snuff, an’ can’t be 
imposed on as you’re reckonin’.” 

“ In that case our commander has another trick up 
his sleeve, accordin’ to all I heard while on duty,” 
the marine continued, as if determined to enchain the 
old sailor’s attention. “ He’ll claim the right to 
send all his prisoners ashore while we’re refittin’, 
an’ rather than that should be done, it is allowed the 
officials of the port will agree to our makin’ the 
transfer in whatsoever way pleases us best.” 

“ Now we’re puttin’ the matter in a different 
light,” Master Jethro said patronizingly. 

“ It’s the kind of a scheme that may be worked, 
an’ I’m hopin’ it will; for it’s bad luck, to say nothin’ 
of bein’ mighty disagreeable, this havin’ a hold full 
of prisoners.” 

I had no more time to spend on deck. It was 
necessary to return to my duties below, else Master 
Staples would have cause for complaint against me ; 
and much to my own dissatisfaction I descended the 
forward ladder to the gun-deck where, as was to be 
expected, I found the lower hatch removed as before 
the action. 

It seemed necessary to make some explanation as 

m 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 


135 


to why I had remained above so long after the prize 
had been captured, and with this thought in mind I 
began an apology to the old sailor, who sat on a coil 
of rope just at the foot of the ladder. 

“You needn’t trouble yourself with chinnin’, for I 
can well understand that it was pleasanter in the 
open air than down here. When a boy aboard ship 
does his best to perform the duties assigned him, as 
in your case, he’ll find others ready to wink at what, 
in a lad of a different sort, would be set down as 
shirkin’. That ’ere little Frenchman was a dandy, 
eh ? ” he added, his mind going back to the short 
but sharp engagement. “Who’d have thought that a 
whiflet like her, hardly bigger’n a long-boat, would 
have stood up against three times her number , of 
guns ? But she paid the price, an’ a heavy one, 
seein’s how the full half of her crew was killed or 
disabled. It’s the first brave frog-eater we’ve run 
across, an’ I’m for takin’ off my hat to the captain 
who refused to haul down his colors until he had 
given us a taste of his metal.” 

“ Did the Frenchmen below here try to kick up 
any row during the fight I asked, not without con- 
siderable curiosity. 

“There wasn’t any chance for funny business, lad, 


136 the cruise of the enterprise 

seein’s how the doors of the cages were fastened 
stoutly, an’ the main hatch barred down.” 

“ You seem to be pretty sure of them now, Master 
Staples,” I said, pointing to that cage which stood 
farthest aft, the door of which, as I could see by 
the faint glimmer of a lantern hanging near by, was 
open a few inches. 

“ What do you mean ? ” Master Staples asked, but 
without looking around. 

I referred to what I had just observed, and imme- 
diately the old sailor sprang to his feet with an 
exclamation of surprise and irritation. 

“I wonder how that happened.^” he said half to 
himself, on coming back after having relocked the 
door with a key which hung from one of the stan- 
chions. “ I could have sworn that everything was 
secure, yet it must be I overlooked that ’ere cage.” 

“ Perhaps some other of your crew found it neces- 
sary to go in there.” 

“All hands are on the upper deck; you’re the 
'first to come down,” he replied thoughtfully. “It 
must be that I’m gettin’ old an’ kind er losin’ my 
head.” 

Apparently he attached but little importance to the 
incident; but I thought it demanded more attention. 


SHOW OF TREACHERY 


137 


Master Staples was not the kind of a man to lose 
his head when making ready for action ; he had 
served many years on board a privateer, and knew 
full well the importance of looking carefully after 
every detail of his duty, however slight. That he 
should have left one of the cages open, thus giving 
to a lot of prisoners, numbering almost as many as 
our own crew, an opportunity to make trouble for 
us, was to my mind something not to be believed. 

“What’s the news on deck.**” he asked, evidently 
intending to put from his mind such disagreeable 
thought as a serious neglect of important duty. 

I told him what the marine had said regarding the 
scheme of obliging the authorities of St. Kitts to 
allow us to put prisoners ashore in a neutral port, 
which was against all the rules of warfare, and he 
commented upon it much in this fashion: — 

“ I’ll be glad when we’re a clean ship once more, 
for no good ever comes of carryin’ a cargo of the 
enemy when you’re on a cruise. Suppose the Enter- 
prise goes into action with a vessel as heavy, or 
we’ll say a bit heavier, than herself } We would be 
forced to look after this portion of the schooner 
mighty sharp, an’ it would take six men from the 
workin’ force, which ain’t wisdom, ’cordin’ to my 


138 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

way of thinkin’. If it so be the scheme can be car- 
^ ried out, I for one will hold up both hands.” 

Then, to add to my budget of news, I told him 
that Miles Partlett was missing; probably had been 
knocked overboard by a splinter, and to this he replied 
with more of vehemence than I had expected, because 
I had no idea he was so bitter against the lad : — 

“ If that has happened, we owe the French aboard 
La Seine more than I allowed at first.” 

“ Do you actually mean to say. Master Staples, 
that you’re glad the poor lad has been killed V I 
cried in horror, whereat he replied calmly : — 

“ I ain’t thinkin’ of the killin’, Paul ; but it’s the 
takin’ away from us of a useless bit of lumber. 
When a boy of his size an’ age is willin’ to set him- 
self down sich a consummate coward, the sooner he’s 
put out of the way of decent men, the better. Now 
I’ve taken note more’n once when you’ve been tryin’ 
to stiffen his backbone, an’ seen that words as well 
as actions were thrown away on him. To a lad like 
you, who has shown his pluck — ” 

“ Don’t give me the credit of being brave. Master 
Staples, for between you and me it ain’t deserved,” 
and then I hastened to explain why I had shown 
what appeared to be like courage. 


A SHOW OF treachery 130 

The old man interrupted me before I was come to 
an end, by saying with a laugh : — 

“You’re wastin’ your breath, Paul Burton, for him 
as ain’t afraid in heart when he’s goin’ into action is 
either a fool or crazy. What do you count for cour- 
age ? It’s that same thing of bein’ afraid you won’t 
do your whole duty. I was shipmates once with a 
man that could or did fight like a tiger whenever 
he was called upon ; but just as soon as the action 
was over he’d grow pale in the face, an’ his knees 
would wabble till it was hard work for him to stand 
up. Why, I’ve seen that old barnacle cover his eyes 
so he couldn’t see when the gunner was ready fbr 
the first shot, an’ then at it he’d go, hammer an’ 
tongs, doin’ the work of half a dozen men, an’ may- 
hap cryin’ like a baby all the time. An’ now you 
come down to what made your shipmate sich a poor 
specimen of humanity. He hadn’t nerve enough to 
stay where he belonged when the weather got a bit 
squally. It’s a good job that he’s gone.” 

I was not inclined to let even an old sailor like 
Master Staples speak harshly of Miles, now that the 
poor lad was dead, and in dying as he did had 
atoned for all his cowardice, according to my way of 
thinking ; therefore I harked back to the matter of the 


140 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Open cage, for it troubled me not a little, more par- 
ticularly since I must be on duty below until we 
arrived at St. Kitts; consequently if there was any- 
thing like treachery aboard, it stood me in hand to 
smoke it out. 

“ It seems strange, Master Staples, that while mak- 
ing ready for action you failed to secure all the pris- 
oners. With seventy-nine on board, which is more 
than our own men number now we’ve sent a prize 
crew away, an oversight like that might cost us dear.” 

The old man looked at me scrutinizingly for an 
instant, and then said with a laugh : — 

“ Is it in your mind, lad, to give me a overhaulin’ 
for bein’ careless ? ” 

“Not a bit of it, sir,” I hastened to reply, “because 
in the first place I cannot believe that you overlooked 
the door.” 

Master Staples gazed around searchingly for an 
instant, and then, leaning toward me, whispered cau- 
tiously : — 

“ Neither can I, lad. I wasn’t minded to say any- 
thing that might give you cause for trouble; but at 
the same time. I’m willin’ to swear that every one 
of them ’ere cages was locked tight as a drum before 
I went on deck.” 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 


I41 

He must have seen an expression^ wery like that 
of alarm on my face, for he ad(;^d a moment 
later : — 

“ Perhaps it would have been more becomin’ in an 
old man like me to keep that kind of talk to him- 
self ; but you brought it on, so to speak. I shall 
overhaul the matter ’twixt now an’ midnight, of that 
you may be certain.” 

“ But how could the prisoners have opened the 
door ? ” I asked half to myself. 

“That’s what we’ve got to find out. If it can be 
done once, it can be twice; an’ the second time might 
cause us trouble. They have found some way of 
gettin’ at the keys, for surely we’ve nobody aboard 
who would play the traitor. Besides, I know full well 
that the hatch was on an’ barred when the French- 
man struck.” 

“Are you certain it hadn’t been taken off. Master 
Staples ? ” I insisted. 

“ Well, as to that, lad, now you speak of it, I won’t 
be so bloomin’ sure, for the bar had been loosened, 
although I didn’t give the fact much heed, ’cause 
some of them on the gun-deck might have come 
below for this thing or that.” 

“ Surely you ought to know whether that could 


142 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


happen,” I said thoughtfully. “Don’t fancy I’m try- 
ing to interfere with what doesn’t concern me — ” 

“ But it does concern you, lad. You’re on duty here 
the same as I, an’ we’re bound to know if there’s any- 
body aboard disposed to play us a trick.” 

The more I considered the matter, the more uneasy 
in mind did I become; and after reflecting for a time, 
I asked cautiously, weighing well the words lest I 
should unwittingly give offence : — 

“Are you willing, sir, that I should speak with 
Jethro Leighton, telling him what we have learned } 
He isn’t the kind of a man to blow things, an’ it may 
be we’ll get points from him.” 

“Ay, lad, do as you have a mind. I’ve been reck- 
onin’ to look over the matter more carefully, an’ am 
willin’ Jethro should stick his fingers into the 
pie.” 

Armed with this permission, I at once went on 
deck where was found the old sailor at work by him- 
self, splicing some of the running rigging which had 
been shot away. There was no one near him, there- 
fore I might talk without danger of being overheard ; 
and at once I plunged into the matter by telling him 
of the incident which caused me greater alarm each 
time I thought of it. 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 


143 


Jethro listened intently, never once interrupting, and 
when I was come to the end of the story he said 
reflectively : — 

“ If it had been almost any other man aboard than 
old Joe Staples, I would say he had lost his head 
when that whiflet of a Frenchman showed fight; but 
Joe ain’t the kind to get mixed up by the smell of 
burnin’ powder, therefore I’ll take my ’davy that he 
left things shipshape before cornin’ on deck.” 

I could see plainly that Jethro was decidedly dis- 
turbed in mind, and this fact did not tend to reassure 
me. 

“ But how do you account for the cage being open, 
providing, as you insist, that the prisoners must have 
been properly secured before the action began ? ” 

“ That’s the puzzlin’ part of it, lad ; an’ ’tis what 
has got to be cleared up before Joe, or you, or me 
has any right to settle down comfortably in mind.” 

“ Well ? ” I asked impatiently, when the old man 
came to a full stop as if dismissing the subject. 

“ Well,” he repeated, “ I can’t see as there is any- 
thing more to be said yet a while. ’Cordin’ to my 
way of thinkin’, an’ it seems to be backed up by 
what you’ve told me, there must be somebody on this 
’ere schooner that we can’t trust.” 


144 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ A traitor ! ” I exclaimed. 

“ That’s an ugly word, an’ has a mighty mean 
sound to people situated as we are ; but there’s no 
other name for it, lad. Now hark you ! Allowin’ 
we’ve got among us one who is ready to go back on 
his shipmates an’ his country, it stands to reason he 
would be on the lookout so’s to know if anybody 
was gettin’ suspicious, an’ if he did open that door, 
the villain’s watchin’ out to see what the rest of us 
think of it, or if the matter is bein’ talked about. 
We won’t do any great amount of chinnin’ where 
others can see us. Tell Joe to keep his eyes wide 
open ; I’ll do the same, an’ you’re to help. Betwixt 
the three of us, it would seem as if we ought’er hit 
on whatever’s wrong. Joe an’ I’ll get together some 
time to-night, an’ then I’ll know who among us have 
been told off as guard, for it strikes me one of them 
must be the man we’re lookin’ for. Now go below, 
an’ be careful who you talk with.” 

If I had sought this interview with Jethro believing 
my fears would be allayed, I should have been wo- 
fully disappointed, for on returning to Master Staples 
my mind was in a very disagreeable whirl. 

I repeated to the old sailor, as nearly as possible, 
all that Jethro had said, we two crouching at the 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 


145 


foot of the ladder beyond earshot of the prisoners ; 
and when I was come to the end, Master Staples said 
emphatically : — 

“ Leighton needn’t spend his time lookin’ after 
them as have been detailed with me to act as guard, 
’cause I can answer for all hands of ’em as I would 
for myself. Barrin’ you an’ the lad who’s dead, I’ve 
served with all of ’em. If there’s any mischief afoot, 
it’s among the Frenchmen themselves, ’cordin’ to my 
way of thinkin’, therefore keep your eye out on ’em 
sharp ; if you see any number talkin’ together like 
as if they didn’t want to be overheard, you can make 
up your mind that they’re the ones who have cooked 
up some plan for gettin’ at the keys after the cage 
doors are locked.” 

“ Then why wouldn’t it be a good idea for you to 
take charge of the keys personally } There’s no need 
that they be kept hanging on the stanchion.” 

“ I had rather they stayed there a spell longer, so 
we can make sure it didn’t all happen through my 
neglect. It’s time you was servin’ out the grub, I 
reckon, so go to work; an’ as Jethro says, we won’t 
seem to be talkin’ privately, else they’ll know we’re 
on to the trick an’ play shy.” 

I set about my work without delay, and as . may 


146 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

be supposed, kept a watchful eye upon the prisoners 
meanwhile. 

I fancied that it was possible to see on the faces 
of the Frenchmen an expression of hope, which had 
not been there when last I served out the rations ; 
but otherwise than this there was no change. From 
the time of coming aboard all had seemed to be 
friendly, recognizing the fact that while we were at 
war, one country against the other, there should be 
no such thing as personal enmity. Two or three 
spoke English passably well, and these had ever 
before exchanged greetings with me as I went the 
rounds ; on this night they did the same, neither 
speaking more nor less than usual, and wearing the 
ordinary expression of good feeling. 

I failed to see any number of them holding private 
converse ; but such fact did not lessen the trouble in 
my heart, for the very good reason that, had there 
been any plot afoot, all evidence of it would naturally 
have been suppressed when I, or the other guards, 
were near at hand. 

The last duty of the day was to take the men on 
deck in companies of twelve, that they might get 
some slight amount of exercise. This should have 
been done before noon ; but at that time, if you re- 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 


147 


member, we of the Enterprise were fully occupied 
with La Seine. 

As a matter of course, all the guards were on duty 
while the men were coming up and going back, and 
as additional precaution, a file of marines had been 
stationed near the m^in-deck hatch. 

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred, save that the 
time of exercise allowed the prisoners was con- 
siderably shortened, owing to the lateness of the 
hour. 

When the last squad had gone below, I, to satisfy 
myself and be able to say to a certainty what was 
the condition of affairs in case any other singular in- 
cident occurred, personally examined the lock on each 
cage, and also assured myself that the keys were 
hanging in their accustomed place at such a distance 
from the bars of the prison that the men could not 
by any possibility come at them. 

Then my tour of duty was at an end. It had been 
arranged that Miles and I should begin work with 
serving breakfast, finishing when supper had come 
to an end ; after that we were entitled to do as we 
pleased until the next morning. 

On this evening Jethro would hold no conversation 
with me lest we might give the traitor, if there was 


148 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

one on board, to understand that his perfidy was dis- 
covered. 

I turned into my hammock at an early hour “all 
standing,” as the sailor’s phrase is for one who goes 
to bed with his clothes on, for it was my intention to 
have a look below next morning before anything could 
be disturbed. 

At eight bells in the morning watch I was awak- 
ened by the trampling of many feet on deck, and 
heard one of the men near me say that we were 
making ready to anchor, being arrived off the harbor 
of St. Kitts. 

It was, as I have said, four o’clock in the morn- 
ing; day was just breaking, and as yet the watch, 
whose time of duty expired at eight bells, was on 
deck. 

I went into the hold, knowing beyond reasonable 
doubt that no one, save those whose care it was to 
watch the prisoners, had been below since I left the 
evening previous. 

Master Staples was sleeping in a hammock swung 
at the foot of the ladder in such a manner that in 
order for one to descend or ascend it would be neces- 
sary to waken him. 

He opened his eyes sleepily as I was forced to 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY I49 

swing him aside, and recognizing me, said, as he 
turned over to continue his slumbers : — 

“You’re cornin’ on duty early, lad.’’ 

“ I’m going right back, sir,’’ I whispered ; “ but 
want to have a look around here before any one is 
stirring.’’ 

“You won’t find out what you’re wantin’ to know, 
for things have gone smoothly this night ; of that I’ll 
take my oath.’’ 

There were two lanterns burning, the flames of 
which hardly more than sufficed to render the dark- 
ness denser, if such could be the case ; and taking 
one of these from its hook, prompted by some im- 
pulse which I am utterly at a loss to explain, I went 
directly toward where the keys of the cages were 
supposed to be hanging. 

There were but three on the hook ! 

It was with difficulty I repressed an exclamation 
of surprise which was very nearly that of dismay; 
but I did succeed in holding my peace, and in order 
to make certain my eyes had not deceived me, took 
off each key in turn. 

Then, lest the prisoners should understand that an 
important discovery had been made, I walked lei- 
surely back toward Master Staples’s hammock, and 


150 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

was on the point of awakening the old sailor again, 
when it seemed to me as if I heard a light shuffling 
of footsteps, as though some one was stealing cau- 
tiously along behind me. 

Turning quickly, I held the lantern high above my 
head, but succeeded in distinguishing nothing because 
of the dense gloom. 

When I turned again the same noise was percepti- 
ble ; but this time I continued on toward the ham- 
mock slowly, careful lest the echo of my own footsteps 
should play me a trick, until there could no longer 
be a question but that some person was astir outside 
the cages. 

Then I laid my hand on Master Staples’s shoulder, 
and whispered gently in his ear : — 

“There are but three keys hanging on the hook 
where last night I saw four. Have you had occa- 
sion to use one } ’’ 

He would have sprung up, owing to the excitement 
which suddenly came upon him with my announce- 
ment, but that I held him down, whispering at the 
same time : — 

“ I believe some one is moving about. Be careful 
to make no show of surprise.” 

He remained quiet an instant, evidently listening. 



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1 HELD THE LANTERN HIGH ABOVE MY HEAD ” 



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A SHOW OF TREACHERY 15I 

as was I ; but we heard no sound in confirmation of 
my suspicions. 

Then the old man got out of the hammock, and I, 
understanding his purpose, led the way, still holding 
the lantern to the hook where we kept the keys. 

One glance there and I was like to have cried out 
in alarm. 

Now four keys hung upon the hook ! 

Master Staples raised them one by one to assure 
himself they were all where they should be, and then 
turned upon me with an odd expression on his face. 

Motioning him to follow, I went to the ladder, and 
from there to the gun-deck, he keeping close at my 
heels. 

Now it was possible to speak without being over- 
heard or observed, and I told him hurriedly of my 
discovery. 

“ You have stewed over the matter so long, lad, as 
to upset yourself. There must have been more than 
three keys on the hook when you looked at them, 
otherwise how did I find four ? ” 

“That’s just it. Master Staples,” I said solemnly, 
for now I was convinced that we stood face to face 
with what might prove to be a serious disaster unless 
we speedily unravelled the mystery. “ I know there 


1 52 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

were but three keys, for I took each in my hands, 
and while going toward your hammock am certain 
that I heard footsteps a short distance behind me.” 

“ Meanin’, that you reckon the fourth key was put 
back into place after you counted ’em ? ” he said, 
looking searchingly into my face as if believing I had 
suddenly taken leave of my senses. 

“ Ay, Master Staples, meaning just that and noth- 
ing more. There is no chance of my having made a 
mistake, for I was wide awake, as you well know 
because of having spoken with me. The only pur- 
pose in my mind was to know whether those keys 
had been tampered with, and last night I observed 
closely how they hung on the hook in order to be 
able to say whether any one had removed them.” 

The old man remained silent for a moment, and 
then muttered, as if arguing with himself : — 

“ If it so be any one walked behind you, lad, we 
must find one of the cages open now.” 

“Where are the men who were supposed to be on 
duty all the time .^ ” I asked. 

“ Both posted near the ladder, just forward of my 
hammock.” 

“ Think you they are awake ? ” 

“ Of a verity. If it so be there are any on board 


A SHOW OF TREACHERY 


153 


who stand watch with their eyes shut, it’s a matter to 
be made known aft, an’ I’ll see to it that there’s no 
sleepin’ in duty hours by the guard below.” 

With this he took the lantern from my hand, for 
all unconsciously I had brought it with me on deck, 
and went hurriedly down the ladder, I following close 
behind. 

There, when the light was flashed upon the bench 
which had been knocked together for the use of the 
guards, we saw the two sailors, each with a musket 
in his hand, open-eyed, and on the alert. 

Master Staples glanced at me to make certain I 
had seen all this, and then went aft, passing each 
cage in turn. 

So far as we could make out all the prisoners 
were asleep ; and I satisfied myself, by pulling at the 
doors vigorously, that the locks yet remained fastened. 

Then, when my companion would have turned to 
retrace his steps, I pulled him by the arm in token 
that we would go farther on, for this- lower hold was 
open fore and aft, and beyond the cages was a lot 
of dunnage, such as spare rope, canvas, and tackle 
generally. 

There was no search made ; I hardly know why it 
was in my mind to look aft, because, although one 


154 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


might have found a hiding-place there, it would have 
been a day’s work to hunt him out. 

There came into my mind the thought that later 
I would make it my business to count the prisoners 
behind the bars, and also learn if any of our crew 
were missing. That done, we would be able to 
say to a certainty whether there was a prisoner or 
traitorous Yankee walking around below. 

Without giving words to such thoughts, I said to 
Master Staples that we could do no better than go 
back, and we had but arrived at the foot of the 
ladder when the clanking of the cable through the 
hawse-holes told that the Enterprise was come to an 
anchor in the bay of St. Kitts. 


CHAPTER VII 


Perplexity 

IT was not for a lad like me to make any suggestions 
* to two sailors such as Jethro and Master Staples, 
unless they gave me an opportunity by discussing 
affairs in my presence. 

As a matter of fact, I believed when the two laid 
their heads together to find some explanation for that 
which was so mysterious, I would be admitted to their 
council of war; but in this it appeared as if I had 
made a mistake. 

Master Staples remained moody and silent near 
the foot of the ladder staring down into the darkness 
past the cages of the prisoners, evidently not wishing 
to be interrupted in his mental labors, and I, con- 
cluding it was wisest to hold my peace for the time 
at least, set about the morning work, forced to do 
double duty because of the absence of Miles. 

From five o’clock until seven I had no time to spare. 
What with serving food and portioning out the water- 
supply, a lad must needs move right lively to take 

155 


156 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

care of seventy-five men, under such circumstances 
as I labored. 

I was occupied on this morning longer than usual 
with the task, for the reason that I could not prevent 
myself from scrutinizing the faces of the Frenchmen 
as each took his share of the provisions, hoping I 
might thus find some clew to the riddle which not 
only annoyed, but alarmed me. 

As on the previous evening, I fancied I could make 
out in the faces of the men a certain gleam of hope 
which I had not before observed ; but I did not allow 
such possible discovery to puff me up with pride, for 
the very good reason that I understood full well it 
might all be a trick of the imagination. I was looking 
for a change in the faces of these people, and only 
because of such fact did I find it. 

Most likely I would have seen nothing out of the 
ordinary but for the incident of the keys. 

When I had come to an end of serving breakfast, 
there were six of our people on guard, and I concluded 
there was no good reason why I should not go on 
deck to take a view of the harbor. ' 

The Enterprise was riding at anchor a long distance 
from the town itself, and just astern of her lay the 
little schooner whose crew had fought so nobly. The 


PERPLEXITY 


157 


stars and stripes floated from both vessels, and on 
the deck of the prize I could see the Frenchmen 
lounging about listlessly; for, as I have already said, 
they had given their paroles not to make any attempt 
at escape, and were therefore allowed full freedom of 
the ship. 

It was the only favor which our commander was 
able to extend to them, and he granted it most will- 
ingly, as one brave man gives to another a token 
of admiration for noble qualities displayed. 

The officers of this last prize, together with those 
from La Sirene, and all belonging to the Enterprise, 
were holding a confab on the quarter-deck for the 
purpose, as I believed, of so arranging matters that 
we might be freed of our prisoners. 

After taking note in a listless way of all within my 
range of vision, I looked around in search of Master 
Jethro, and found him well up in the bow talking 
confidentially with Master Staples. 

I knew full well what was the subject of the con- 
versation, and wondered not a little that they had 
failed to summon me. The fact that neither looked 
up when I passed told of how little consequence a 
lad like myself was in the eyes of such old shell- 
backs ; and yet, according to my way of thinking, I 


158 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

had proven myself of considerable consequence in 
the matter since, but for my having gone into the 
hold at such an early hour, they would not have 
been reasonably certain, as was now the case, that 
some one was either playing the traitor, or that the 
prisoners could leave their cages at will. 

During the forenoon Commander Shaw and Mr. 
Wadsworth went on shore to make arrangements, as 
I supposed, for transferring the prisoners. 

They returned shortly after twelve o’clock, and an 
hour later we on the gun-deck learned from one of the 
marines that the scheme had been nipped in the bud. 

The authorities of the port would allow the pris- 
oners on board the prize which was to be sold at St. 
Kitts, to come ashore; and, indeed, this was from no 
good or ill-will of theirs, since, as I afterward came 
to understand, it was according to maritime law. 

The matter of joining to them those taken from La 
Sirhte had a stopper put to it immediately such a 
proposition was suggested. 

We of the Enterprise must keep with us a hold full 
of Frenchmen, regardless of their discomfort or our 
own pleasure, until we could land them in an Ameri- 
can port, or on board an American vessel. The 
authorities treated us exactly as if the United States 


PERPLEXITY 


159 


and France were at war with each other, even though 
as yet no actual declaration of hostilities had been 
made. 

When this matter was settled, we set about repairing 
the damage done by the little schooner, and then a 
certain number of days passed much as had the time 
when we laid in the harbor of St. Thomas, save, per- 
haps, that there was not quite so much labor to be 
performed. 

While a portion of the men worked upon the hull or 
the rigging of the Enterprise, others were putting on 
board fresh water and an additional store of provisions, 
for now that the number of mouths had been doubled, 
we would need a larger stock of supplies than ever 
before. 

While we laid at anchor I spent my entire time try- 
ing to solve the mystery, and it may be as well if I set 
it down here at once, that I made no progress what- 
soever. 

If Jethro and Joe Staples had formed any plan for 
discovering whether we had on board a traitor, they did 
not make me a party to it, and this reticence caused a 
certain sense of injustice to spring up in my heart. 
That they kept their own counsel seemed to be proof 
that they lacked confidence in rtie; and as the days 


l60 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

wore on without my having been able to make any dis- 
coveries, I spent the greater portion of the time alone. 

It is true that the two old sailors conversed with me 
as before, hesitating not to speak freely of the problem 
we were eager to solve ; but withheld what to me would 
have been most satisfactory — an outline of their own 
plan of operations. 

It is not well that I attempt to set down here a de- 
tailed account of the long, weary days spent in the 
harbor of St. Kitts, because a recital of all that was 
done would afford but little interest to any save those 
who were as much concerned in clearing up the 
mystery as was I. 

It must suffice to say that, although constantly on the 
watch, I failed in hearing the slightest word to betoken 
that some one was at liberty in the hold. In fact, I 
hardly expected anything of the kind, since, having 
counted the prisoners half a dozen times over, it was 
learned that none were missing, and of our own crew 
every man could be accounted for on that particular 
morning when I had been so seriously disturbed. 

We laid at St. Kitts ten days, and during that time 
the crew and officers of La Seine had been set ashore, 
while the little craft herself was being put in trim to be 
sold. 


PERPLEXITY 


l6l 


Then came the day for which I had longed, when we 
put to sea once more, and I had succeeded in persuad- 
ing myself that there was in fact nothing whatsoever in 
the way of a mystery among us. I must have made a 
mistake in counting the keys ; the footsteps which I 
heard behind me on that evening when we arrived in 
the harbor was only a trick of the imagination, and 
Master Staples had overlooked the lock on the cage 
when he made ready for action. 

Such was my conclusion, and Jethro agreed with me. 
Because nothing else out of the ordinary had been seen 
or heard, we believed that all which went before were 
fancies on our part. 

It had become necessary for our peace of mind that 
we arrive at some such decision, and we diligently tried 
to believe it was the true solution. 

It was a relief to be at sea once more ; to hear the 
wind humming among the cordage, and to feel the 
gallant little schooner leaping from surge to surge like 
some living thing. 

Now we were on the lookout for more prizes, feeling- 
confident, because of our previous good luck, that there 
were other French colors to be lowered before our guns. 

It was as if Miles Partlett had never been aboard ; 
no one spoke his name, and I had had so much in my 


M 


1 62 the cruise of the enterprise 

mind regarding the possibility of there being a traitor 
among us, that I had almost ceased to think of him. 

One of the crew had been detailed in his stead to 
assist me with the feeding of the prisoners, who were 
given more liberty now than formerly; and by the 
time we were three days out from port, affairs on 
board the Enterprise had settled down into the usual 
routine. 

It was on the morning of the fifth day after leav- 
ing St. Kitts, and we were to leeward of Gaudaloupe 
running free. For six and thirty hours the wind had 
blown half a gale, raising such a sea as forced the 
Enterprise to shove her nose into the hollows of the 
surges until the spray was flung from bow to stern. 

Despite the discomfort of such sailing, it was a day 
to be enjoyed ; the sharp humming of the wind 
through the rigging, the churning of the waves 
beneath our cutwater, and the buoyant rising and 
falling of our little craft was so exhilarating that one 
forgot the inconvenience of being wet to the skin. 

Then came that cry from the lookout which those 
who hunt men upon the ocean know full well — that 
announcement which electrifies the crew, causing the 
blood to bound until their veins are on the point of 
bursting. 


PERPLEXITY 


163 

“Sail ho!” 

“ Where away ? ” 

“ Three points to leeward, sir.” 

“ What do you make her to be ” 

“ She looks like a topsail schooner, sir, and has 
much the air of a cruiser.” 

Then a quick order to the helmsman; a swinging 
off of the schooner’s bow ; another hail from the look- 
out to tell that we were on the right course, and again 
was the Enterprise in hot pursuit, her crew hoping the 
stranger might prove to be an enemy, and fearing lest 
they were doomed to disappointment. 

Now it was I thought more deeply of Miles Part- 
lett than since the hour it seemed certain he had been 
killed ; for this was the time when that unfortunate 
lad’s courage would have begun to fail him, and he be 
making ready to hide himself against the danger, much 
as does an ostrich when he plunges his head into the 
sand. 

Fortunately for me I had come to realize that it is 
a waste of emotion to tremble before being sent to 
quarters, for there is many a slip ’twixt the sighting 
of a strange sail and the capturing of a prize. 

I was obliged to attend to my work of feeding the 
men in the hold before we had run the chase hull 


1 64 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

down ; but when I had performed my duties, and the 
prisoners were being taken on deck for exercise, it 
was possible to see the stranger with the naked eye. 

“What is she?” I asked of Master Jethro. 

“ A schooner, an’ a Frenchman, ’cordin’ to the 
belief of Commander Shaw. She seems to be a small 
cruiser somewhere near our own weight, or less ; rather 
smaller, I should say, or else she’d have had the polite- 
ness to let us come alongside without spendin’ so much 
time in chasin’ her.” 

“In case we come to action, I suppose I am to go 
to my old post. Master Jethro?” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ I thought perhaps I might be obliged to help look 
after the prisoners.” 

“You can trust Joe Staples for that, and with two 
others he should have enough to help him.” 

“Unless our mysterious friend in the hold takes a 
hand again,” I added, harking back to the mystery 
despite myself, whereat the old sailor put on a look 
of injury. 

“ I thought we had agreed to let that matter drop,” 
he said gruffly. “ It was a mistake from beginnin’ to 
end, an’ will do more harm than good if we keep it in 
mind. I’ve known of a ship’s company bein’ knocked 


PERPLEXITY 


165 


all out of shape by dwellin’ on some such foolish thing 
as that. Take my advice, lad, an’ don’t think of it 
again. We’re like to go into action pretty soon, unless 
it so be them as are ahead of us show the white feather 
too quick, an’ a little dance of that kind will put your 
mind in a more healthy trim.” 

“ I had almost forgotten it during th§ past week,” 
I protested, feeling rather ashamed because Jethro 
seemed to think it necessary I should be reminded of 
what had evidently been no less than folly. 

“You are doin’ well, lad. Our business is to hunt 
for Frenchmen, an’ when we get off the chase so far 
as to go snoopin’ ’round for ghosts, it’s a sign we’re 
growin’ foolish. I’ll admit there was one spell when 
I got kind er creepy over it; but as I said to Joe 
Staples, ‘Where’s the use, Joe, to hunt ’round for 
shadders, when all you’ve got to do is to run across 
a frog-eater about twice the size of the Enterprise 
if you want real trouble ’ Consequently Joe, he 
agreed with me, so from that day to this we’ve held 
our tongues; an’ a man with half an eye can see that 
it was the wisest thing to do. There hasn’t been 
any show of a ghost since we struck St. Kitts, an’ if 
we had one aboard, he most likely slipped ashore at 
that port.” 


^ 1 66 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

There was no good reason why Jethro should dwell 
so long on the subject, and it irritated me because he 
did so. I was not a child to be frightened by my 
own shadow, and surely both these old sailors had 
had proof enough that I could stand my ground when 
really serious danger threatened. 

However, I refrained from giving words to that 
which was in my mind, because ahead of us was what 
we had good reason to believe might prove an enemy, 
and one forgets to think of mysteries when death 
comes aboard his craft. 

Jethro did not seek to detain me in conversation. 
There was nothing in particular he had to say now 
when the excitement of the chase was hot upon us 
all, and the old man had eyes for nothing save that 
fleck of white which rose and fell on the surges so 
far in advance. 

Before it was time for me to serve out the evening 
meal, we were so near aboard the chase as to make 
out, with reasonable certainty, her fighting force, as 
well as her nationality. 

She was a small French schooner carrying, so far 
as we could see, no more than six guns ; but the crew 
of the Enterprise had already learned that even so 
small a craft as that might be able to show her teeth 


PERPLEXITY 167 

in the most terrible fashion, and no one ventured to 
declare that she would strike her colors immediately 
we were within gunshot, for La Seine had taught us 
a different lesson. 

It was enough, however, that unless some accident 
occurred she would soon be our prize, and although 
we were taking small fry, it was quite as much, per- 
haps, as a schooner the size of the Enterprise had a 
right to expect. 

The chase was a good sailer, and when the cooks 
were ready to send the prisoners their supper, the 
schooner had so much the lead of us that there was 
little danger but that I could finish my work before 
we had come within hailing distance. 

Those in the hold must have realized that there 
was an action close at hand, because of the fact that 
all the guards aided me in dealing out the food and 
water, and each man hurried through the task as if 
it was of vital importance he should complete it in 
the shortest possible space of time. 

Then when I announced to Joe Staples that all 
the prisoners had been cared for, he motioned me to 
follow him as he went from one cage to another, 
unlocking and relocking the doors in order to make' 
certain they were fast. 


1 68 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

This done, he hung the keys on the hook which 
was driven into a stanchion fully twenty feet away 
from the nearest prison cage, whispering to me as he 
did so : — 

“Now it is not alone my word that must be taken 
in case there is any tamperin’ with these ’ere locks. 
Mind you, lad. I’m not lookin’ for anything queer to 
happen, because, accordin’ to my figgerin’, an’ Jethro 
Leighton is of the same opinion, if there was any- 
body at liberty in this ’ere hold when we run into 
St. Kitts, he found a chance to slip ashore. How- 
somever, there will be two witnesses to the fact that 
we have left our men in good shape.” 

“ Are all the guards to be sent to quarters ” I 
asked, surprised that such a large number of men 
should be left alone, even though they were confined 
in stout cages. 

“ Ay, lad, that’s the order I got from Mr. Wads- 
worth two hours ago. We’re to lock all the doors, 
an’ then bar the hatch. After that, if any mischief 
is done, them as are doin’ it will find they’ve got 
a hard job before ’em to get further than the 
hold.” 

Then the old sailor commanded the men who had 
been acting as sentinels, to go up the ladder. He 


PERPLEXITY 169 

followed, and I came directly behind him, stopping 
near the hatch combing to look back. 

Everything was apparently as it should be. The 
two lanterns swung from the deck-beams, illuminating 
the place only sufficiently to enable one to see its 
general outlines, and the prisoners were, as might 
have been supposed, somewhat restless since they 
knew, because of our movements, that we were close 
aboard one of their countrymen. 

“If anything down there has been disturbed when 
you take off the hatch. Master Staples, then I’ll say 
that the hold should be searched thoroughly.” 

“ An’ that’s what shall be done, if it so happens 
we find the least thing out of place ; but I’m tellin’ 
you for the truth, that this time, when we can make 
no mistake, you’ll not find hide nor hair missin’.” 

When we two came on the gun-deck we found the 
crew at quarters, for our commander was not to be 
caught napping again because his chase happened to 
be a very small craft, and the men were chaffing 
among themselves about our taking so many precau- 
tions when, as one of them said, we had only to “clap 
the falls of the long-boat fore and aft the stranger in 
order to hoist her inboard.” 

“ That’s what you might have done to the last 


I/O THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Frenchman we run afoul of, an’ then found that 
you’d taken hold of a cat that knew how to scratch 
in fine style,” Master Staples said with a laugh. 
“ How goes the chase } ” 

“We’re well aboard now, an’ likely to hear an 
order for the first gun to be fired before many 
minutes.” 

“ Does the enemy appear to have much of a 
crew ? ” 

“ Somewhere between fifty an’ sixty, so it is said,” 
one of the gunners replied, and at that moment a 
midshipman bawled down through the hatch : — 

“Number i gun ahoy! Pitch a ball over the 
Frenchman I ” 

“ Ay, ay, sir,” came the cheery response, as the old 
shell-back went down on his knees to sight the piece, 
and a moment later one could feel the recoil of the 
gun as the report rang out, seeming to fill the entire 
deck with noise, after which the pungent odor of 
powder came rolling backward, stifling and intoxi- 
cating. 

That which followed came all so suddenly that it 
is not possible for me to set down of my own knowl- 
edge any details. 

It was as if our No. i gun had but just spoken 


PERPLEXITY 


I7I 

when a shot crashed through the timbers between 
the first and second ports, sending splinters in every 
direction, and I saw three men stretched out on the 
deck, bleeding and gasping. 

Then some one, I know not who, ordered me to 
turn to in the work of bringing ammunition, and I 
set about the task more from force of habit than 
because I was conscious of my movements. 

When we opened fire on La SeinCy there was pity 
in my mind that a vessel of our size should be at- 
tacking one so much smaller ; but now, when the 
circumstances were similar, I ceased to feel any sym- 
pathy with the weaker force. 

In the previous case we had attempted to close 
our hand upon a hornet, and felt its sting. We were 
now evidently doing the same thing, and again came 
into my mind that fiendish desire to know whether 
we were working more harm upon them than they on 
us, for the cries of the wounded men plunged me 
into an excess of savage desire. 

“ Another crew of brave Frenchmen ! ” I heard 
some one shout, and then came the reply, with a 
laugh that had in it nothing of mirth : — 

“Ay, that’s what we’ve struck. It must be that 
all the cowards were waiting for us early in the 


172 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

cruise, an’ now we’ll be called upon to pay well for 
whatsoever we get. Good for you, Zenas ! That last 
shot cut close to the heart of the foremast.” 

By this time we who worked on the gun-deck 
were enveloped in clouds of smoke so dense that one 
could hardly see half a dozen paces in advance, and 
as I was running forward with two 6-pound shot in 
my arms, I struck my foot upon a half-dead man, 
fell, and ploughed my way through a pool of blood 
from which arose a salty odor that seemed to mingle 
well with the fumes of the powder. 

The shot rolled to leeward ; I failed to see them 
when I searched with my eyes. Time was too 
precious to admit of hunting, and I ran below to get 
a second lot, heeding not the fact that from my hair 
nearly to my toes I was covered with the life fluid 
of some brave man. 

Later during the action, it is impossible to say 
exactly when, but after I had fallen over my wounded 
shipmate, Jethro Leighton caught me by the shirt 
collar as I would have passed him, and cried in a 
tone almost of agony : — 

“You are wounded, lad! Get into the cockpit at 
once. There’s no reason why you should be stag- 
gerin’ ’round here in this shape I ” 


PERPLEXITY 


173 


He dragged me forward as he spoke, and I had 
great difficulty in persuading him that it was not my 
blood, but another’s, which gave me such a hideous 
aspect; but when the old man became convinced that 
I was uninjured, he clasped me to himself in very 
joy, as if I was one whom he dearly loved. 

The Frenchmen fought like tigers ; their six guns 
were discharged so rapidly that it seemed as if there 
must have been twice that number on board. 

Looking through one of the port-holes in order to 
get a breath of fresh air, it seemed to me as if her 
deck was literally covered with the dead and wounded, 
while ours was little better. 

Nearby where Jethro Leighton was stationed lay a 
lifeless body over which some one had flung a spare 
hammock, and it appeared to me as if the men were 
continually carrying their shipmates below where the 
surgeons were at work. 

That breath of fresh air came near proving disas- 
trous to me. In stopping to inhale it I had freed 
myself from the grasp of the fever, and found time 
to realize what was going on around me. 

The scene of horror, the crashing of timbers, and 
the roaring of guns which spoke so loudly of death, 
brought me to the very verge of cowardice. 


174 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


I believe that in five minutes more I should have 
run shrieking and with covered eyes to some hiding- 
place, even as Miles Partlett had done, thereby dis- 
gracing myself forever in the eyes of those who 
looked upon me as a shipmate who had been tried 
and proven. 

Fortunately, however, some one was needed just at 
that moment to aid in carrying a poor fellow below 
whose leg was shattered above the knee, and I 
offered my services with the cowardly thought that 
by so doing I should escape the horror, if not the 
danger, which surrounded me. 

While we walked the length of the deck, I carry- 
ing the suffering man’s shoulders, and he who was 
my companion for the time being supporting the 
remainder of the body, there came into my mind the 
thought which I had so often tried to impress upon 
Miles, that one place on shipboard had in it quite 
as much of danger as another, and he who stood at 
his post was no nearer death than he who fled to 
hide his head in terror. 

This thought gave me strength to hide the tim- 
orousness which was rapidly creeping into my heart, 
and then, as we came to that room where the surgeons 
were at work, I was nigh to fainting like a woman. 


PERPLEXITY 


175 


Five wounded men were being cared for, or wait- 
ing their turn at that terrible table where the two 
surgeons stood with gleaming knives, cutting and 
hacking at the quivering flesh as if with savage 
eagerness to cause more pain, and I reeled to and 
fro, like a person drunken, under the horrors of the 
situation. 

One of the surgeons, whose hands and arms were 
reeking with the blood of this human shambles, 
steadied me lest I fall, and said, as he gently pushed 
me outside the door : — 

“You haven’t yet had experience enough, lad, to 
come into the cockpit. Don’t blame yourself for 
turning white around the mouth, for I’ve seen men 
who had taken part in twenty battles collapse when 
they saw a place like this.’’ 

I had been so near the very verge of cowardice 
that the reaction sent me in the opposite direction, 
and straightway I became inflamed with passion, 
burning to avenge upon the enemy the suffering 
which I had witnessed. 

Running to the gun-deck at full speed, looking 
straight before me and half closing my eyes lest I 
should see other sights which would unman me, I 
set about such work as came to hand until once 


176 THE CRUISE OF THE ^:NTERPRISE 

more I lost all reckoning of time, all idea of move- 
ment, all thought of danger. ' 

From this waking dream, for I can call that con- 
dition of mind into which I had again been plunged 
by no other name, I was aroused by the sudden ces- 
sation of noise, and the cheers of my shipmates, 
which told that at last the gallant little Frenchman 
had hauled down her colors. 

A few moments later we knew that this last prize 
was La Citoyenne^ a 6-gun schooner carrying fifty- 
seven men. 

She had held out to the very last moment, fight- 
ing so long as the most sanguine could see a ray 
of hope, and when finally she struck her colors, the 
list of casualties amounted to four killed and ten 
wounded. 

On board the Enterprise one marine was killed, 
and seven seamen more or less severely injured. 

If blood was of any value, then in truth had we 
paid for these two small schooners a most extrava- 
gant price. 


CHAPTER VIII 


Proofs of Treachery 

I ^HERE was in my mind when the plucky little La 
^ Citoyenne struck, the hope that I might be 
called away as one of the prize crew, and exactly 
why this wish came into my heart it would be diffi- 
cult to explain. 

There was no good reason for me to desire a 
change of quarters ; the crew of the Enterprise to a 
man were as kindly disposed toward me as I could 
have asked ; but yet something — call it the spirit of 
adventure, if you will — spoke within me, saying that 
it would be a fine experience to take passage on a 
vessel recently captured. 

This last prize was a smart little craft, and there 
was no reason for despising her sailing qualities 
simply because the Enterprise had run her down so 
quickly. • 

Our schooner was an exception to the average 
craft, and it did not need that any vessel should be 
lying at anchor in order for us to overhaul her. 

N 177 


1/8 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

I was overhanging the rail with some such thoughts 
in my mind, watching the scene of activity and of 
distress before me, when a hand was laid heavily on 
my shoulder, and, turning quickly, I saw Master 
Staples. 

“ I thought the agreement was that you were to be 
the first to go into the hold with me, so we could 
take our ’davys that the ghost had been laid,” the old 
man said not unkindly; and I replied by first announc- 
ing my intention of going with him, and afterward giv- 
ing words to the thoughts which had come into my 
mind as I gazed at the prize. 

“ You want to keep all such idees as that out of 
your head, my boy. Unless direct orders are given 
for you to make one of a prize crew, stick to your 
own ship, an’ stick hard.” 

“ What do you mean ? ” I asked in surprise, for the 
old man had spoken more forcibly and emphatically 
to me than it seemed the subject warranted. 

“ I made one of a prize crew not so many years 
ago, and it was enough to sicken me of the business. 
Take, say, five men, — which are as many as our com- 
mander 'will allow ought to run this ’ere prize into 
port, — an’ put ’em on deck with fifty or sixty below 
hatches, the five to do all the work, of clearin’ up after 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 1 79 

the action, searchin’ out for skulkers who may turn 
dangerous, or otherwise humpin’ themselves in fine 
style. Let the wind come ’round with a slant that 
sends you away from the port you’re countin’ on 
makin’, givin’ you three weeks or more of niggerls 
work, an’ then let some bloomin’ Frenchman come 
along an’ recapture you. I won’t say as all prize 
crews get the same treatment, because they don’t; 
but when you go aboard of a craft like that one, 
you’re takin’ the chances of that much work with 
good possibility of bein’ brought up with a sharp turn 
in jail. No prize crews for you or me,” the old man 
added, shaking his head vigorously, and dragging me 
like a culprit by the collar of my shirt across the 
deck. 

“If you’ll let up a bit, I can do my own walking,” 
I said with a laugh, for to be handled ever so kindly 
by Joe Staples was much like being hugged by a 
bear. He had no idea of his own strength, and a 
love-tap from him would come near to knocking 
a fellow senseless. 

When we came to the hatchway of the lower hold, 
there was no thought in my mind that we should 
find matters below other than as they had been left. 
What with the action, and the talk Master Staples 


l80 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

had been making regarding a prize crew, I had 
almost forgotten that there had ever been anything 
in the hold which we might call a mystery ; and as 
the hatch was raised, I sighed at the idea of being 
forced to go below, thus shutting myself out from 
the light of the new day which was just breaking. 

Half a second later, however, I came to a very 
decided realization that something of greatest impor- 
tance had occurred in this portion of the schooner; 
for as we raised the hatch there came to our ears a 
noise as of men scurrying to and fro seeking a hid- 
ing-place, and I looked up at the old sailor in alarm, 
for of a verity this was no ghostly affair, but some- 
thing of flesh and blood. 

Master Staples had worn a cutlass during the ac- 
tion, and this was still hanging at his belt. Loosen- 
ing the weapon in its scabbard, and without waiting 
to call for assistance as another man would who 
knows that seventy or eighty men may be waiting to 
attack him, the old man slid, rather than walked, 
down the ladder. 

I followed his example, forgetting the possible dan- 
ger in my desire to see, at the same time he did, 
what had occurred during our absence. 

Like a flash of lightning from a clear sky came 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY l8l 

back to my mind all the fears of treachery which 
had been driven away during the past few days, and 
at that instant I suddenly came to believe that more 
than one of our men were in league with the enemy. 

When we two stood below, the prisoners were quiet 
as usual, and not a sound could be heard betokening 
mischief. 

The lanterns still swung gently to and fro from 
the beams, and to all appearances there had been no 
change whatsoever in this quarter of the schooner. 
But for the fact of our knowing beyond a peradven- 
ture that all these men had, a few moments previ- 
ously, been moving about at will, I would have said 
of a verity that we were fools to have fancied they 
might escape from their prisons. 

Master Staples, moving quickly with the hope of 
catching some of the men at their tricks, hurriedly 
seized one of the lanterns, and, holding it high above 
his head, went from cage to cage, while an exclama- 
tion of dismay burst from my lips as I followed him, 
for two of the prison doors were unlocked and open 
a few inches. 

This time there was no chance for a mistake. 
Both the old sailor and myself had seen to it beyond 
a doubt that the bolts were fastened, and now no 


82 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


less than forty of the prisoners might have rushed 
out when only Joe Staples and myself were there as 
a bar to their progress toward the gun-deck. 

I turned to the hook on which the keys were 
hung, and there found the four as if they had never 
been disturbed. 

In my excited frame of mind it was much like 
touching something from another world to take down 
those iron tools, for now was the mystery floating 
in thick upon us, as the fog envelops a ship at sea, 
and I trembled so violently with an undefined emo- 
tion as to be well-nigh incapable of movement. 

Master Staples took the keys from my hands, hur- 
riedly locked the doors, and then set about making 
certain that all the prisoners were where they should 
be. 

After some difficulty we counted the men as they 
obediently ranged themselves around the sides of the 
cages, and when this had been done, the old sailor 
said with a long-drawn sigh : — 

“ They’re all here, lad ; but how it has come about 
that these ’ere doors can be unlocked by them beats 
me! ” 

“ Of course we’ve got a traitor among our crew,” 
I cried in the tone of one who says that which he 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 


183 


hopes may be true, but doubts it, for I was strug- 
gling to the utmost of my mental strength to pre- 
vent myself from believing that there was something 
supernatural about this whole matter ; and the old 
man heightened the terrible mystery for me when he 
said decidedly : — 

“ I could come pretty near takin’ an oath that all 
of our men are true. Jethro Leighton an’ I have 
reckoned ’em over an’ over agin without cornin’ across 
a single man who might be willin’ to deliver up this 
’ere schooner to the enemy by such black-hearted 
treachery.” 

“ But it is certain some one did it. Master Staples, un- 
less you’re counting that there is a ghost in the hold.” 

“ An’ if there was ? ” the old man cried, turning 
upon me furiously. “ Do you mean to say as how 
things that ain’t flesh an’ blood can come around un- 
lockin’ doors an’ playin’ sich like pranks ? ” 

“It has been done,” I persisted, like a simple; “and 
now we know there could have been no mistake before, 
when you believed the cages were fastened securely.” 

Joe Staples rubbed his ear vigorously, swung the 
lantern around until we could see that there were no 
skulkers nearby the cages, and then stared at me so 
fixedly that it seemed much as if he was asking 


1 84 the cruise of the enterprise 

whether I had any hand in this matter which was of 
such vital importance to all on board the Entei'prise. 

“ Why do you look at me in such a manner ? I 
cried, becoming almost frightened. 

“I’m tryin’ to figger out what’s to be done, lad,” 
the old man replied ; and by the tone of his voice I 
knew he was plunged as deep in trouble as myself. 
“Jethro Leighton an’ I turned this thing over an’ 
over ; but we couldn’t make head or tail of it, an’ 
now has come the time when we’ve got to call in 
others to help us out ; for, hark you ! suppose the 
Enterprise was in action two or three hours, as is 
like to be the case any day, these ’ere frog-eaters 
would have time to do a heap of mischief.” 

“ But who can you go to ” 

“To one of the officers, of course, as is our duty. 
Now if it so be we can get Mr. Wadsworth’s ear. 
I’ll be able to chin with him better’n I could with 
the commander. Pass the word for all hands detailed 
as prison guard to come below.” 

It was necessary to do something more than “ pass 
the word” in order to bring our men to their posts 
once more, for all hands were deeply engaged put- 
ting the prize into a seaworthy condition ; and I was 
forced to run hither and thither at the expense of a 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 1 8 $ 

good half hour’s time before finding all who had been 
drafted under the command of Master Staples. 

When I stood on the upper deck once more, it 
was possible to see what our people were doing. Thp 
French schooner had been considerably cut up in the 
rigging, and the carpenters were at work plugging 
the shot-holes in her hull. 

Evidently the able-bodied of her crew had been put 
under the hatches, for not a frog-eater could be seen, 
and our surgeons yet remained on board of her, as 
well they might when it was a case of attending to 
ten wounded men. 

As nearly as I could judge. La Citoyenne would be 
gotten under way in a couple of hours at the longest, 
and then would come the time for our people to patch 
up the injuries received by the Enterprise ; for she 
showed many a plain mark of th^ Frenchman’s claws. 

I went below again, after making certain that all 
the guards had obeyed the summons, and gave to 
Master Staples the information which I had gained. 

“ It’s a case of settlin’ this ’ere matter off hand, an’ 
no shilly-shally in’,” the old sailor said decidedly. “As 
I figger it, we’ve got precious little time to lose; an’ 
now you an’ I must get speech with Lieutenant Wads- 
worth in short order.” 


1 86 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“ He is in charge of the work on board the prize 
just now.” 

^‘Then we must go where he is, for I’m not of a 
mind to let this thing hang in the wind any longer.” 

Master Staples gave strict orders to the guard that 
they keep a sharp lookout over the prisoners, enjoin- 
ing upon the men not to leave the hold under any 
circumstances whatsoever until his return, and then 
he and I went above. 

More than one called us to lend a hand at this 
job or that when we appeared, and but for the fact 
that my companion had been relieved of all other • 
duty save that of guarding the prisoners, it might 
have been many hours before we could have held a 
private conversation with the lieutenant. 

As it was, however, Joe Staples knew his duty 
and his privileges equally well, and turning a deaf 
ear to every call, he walked boldly to the quarter- 
deck where stood the first lieutenant. 

“ I’d like to have a word with Mr. Wadsworth, sir, 
in regard to the prisoners,” he said, saluting with 
more than ordinary ceremony, whereupon the officer 
replied curtly : — 

“Our boats are alongside. Use one of them. Mr. 
Wadsworth is on board the prize.” 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 


187 


We went over the rail into the smallest boat, and 
to me the short trip from one vessel to the other 
was full of danger, for our little craft rose and fell 
on the heavy surges until it seemed certain we must 
be swamped when trying to run alongside La 
Citoyenne. 

This portion of the work was but child’s play for 
Master Staples, and soon we were on the quarter of 
the prize, bowing and scraping before the second 
lieutenant. 

What is it } ” he asked sharply. “ We’ve got a 
handful of work here, and there’s no time for 
foolishness.” 

“ If it please you, sir, this ain’t foolishness by a 
long shot,” Joe Staples began gravely, and the ex- 
pression on his face told the officer that the old man 
had something of import to impart, whereupon he gave 
ear, neglecting the work on hand for the moment. 

Hurriedly, but yet going into all the details. Master 
Staples explained that which troubled us, bringing the 
story down to the present moment. 

When he had finished, it was the lieutenant’s turn 
to look grave, and after a brief pause he said : — 

“ There has been some carelessness among the 
men, and you have imagined the rest.” 


1 88 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“Not a bit of it, sir, beggin’ your pardon. This 
lad an’ I unlocked an’ locked every, door before we 
went into action, an’ when we two left the hold 
everything was as it should be. That we can swear 
to, seein’s how we made preparations to find out 
whether there could be a mistake.’’ 

“ And the prisoners showed no disposition to make 
trouble } ” 

“ Not what you might call real trouble, sir. They 
acted excited like, an’ I’m allowin’ that if we’d given 
whomsoever planned the prank a chance to set ’em 
all free, the crew of the Enterprise would have been 
in a serious kind of a muss.” 

Again Mr. Wadsworth reflected a few seconds, and 
then asked sharply : — 

“Why didn’t you go to the commander with this 
story } ” 

“Well, you see it’s like this, sir; I could talk to 
you as was needed, but didn’t know how to come 
’round Commander Shaw.” 

“ So you think it’s easier to spin me a yarn that 
has nothing in it than him ? ” Mr. Wadsworth said 
laughingly. 

“ But this ’ere is no yarn, sir ; it’s a reg’lar official 
report I’m makin’.” 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 


189 

“ Then go to the commander with my compliments, 
and say to him that he’ll oblige me by listening patiently 
to all you’ve got to say. I’ll answer for it, Staples, 
that he won’t choke you off till you’ve wagged your 
tongue freely.” 

With that Mr. Wadsworth turned once more to 
his duties of making repairs on the schooner, and 
we clambered into our boat again, the wind carrying 
us swiftly down on the Enterprise, where it was neces- 
sary a couple of our men should help us in coming 
alongside, else we might have been swamped. 

Grown bold by the advice of Mr. Wadsworth, 
Staples went straight to the quarter-deck, took off 
his hat, and there stood waiting until the commander 
should see fit to speak with him. 

“ Well, what is it, my man ” Mr. Shaw asked 
when he had time to notice us two insignificant 
members of his crew. 

“ Mr. Wadsworth’s compliments, sir, an’ he asks 
that you listen, with whatsoever of patience is 
possible, to the official report we have come to make 
regardin’ the prisoners.” 

“ Nothing serious, I presume,” Mr. Shaw said, 
looking everywhere but at us, thus showing that the 
“official report” had failed to attract his attention. 


190 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“ It is serious, sir, an’ like to be of more importance 
even than the fittin’ of yonder prize, for there’s 
treachery aboard.” 

Master Staples spoke so emphatically and yet 
gravely, that our commander was really startled, as 
I could tell by the expression which came over his 
face; and now fixing his eyes upon the old man for 
the first time, he asked in a low tone : — 

“ Is it something which must be said in private, 
my man ? ” 

“Yes, sir, an’ it please you.” 

“ Then come below.” 

We went into the after cabin, which was in a state 
of fine confusion, owing to the fact that everything had 
been cleared away in order that both the stern guns 
might be used, and I could see but little difference 
between the quarters of the commander and our 
own. 

Here were rough beams, as on the gun-deck. 
There was no attempt at beautifying the saloon, as 
would have been found on a merchant vessel. Every 
fitting was of the plainest, and at that moment I had 
a greater respect for our commander than ever before ; 
for until now I fancied him living in the finest style, 
while his crew was forced to put up with anything. 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY I9I 

“ Now tell me your story, my man, and as quickly 
as possible, without hurrying over any of the important 
points.” 

Master Staples set about the matter much less 
fluently than when he was talking with Lieutenant 
Wadsworth, because the presence of the commander 
served to act as a check upon his tongue ; but he 
succeeded in giving a fairly good idea of that which 
had happened, turning every now and then to me, 
as if believing it necessary I should corroborate all 
his statements by word of mouth. 

There was no disposition on the part of our cap- 
tain to laugh at or cast discredit upon the statements 
made. One would have said from his appearance 
that he looked upon the matter quite as seriously 
as did we, and showed by the questions asked that 
it was his belief some person other than a member 
of our crew, or one of the prisoners from La Sifrne, 
who was doing the mischief. 

“ Did you make anywhere near a thorough search 
of the hold ? ” he asked, and the old sailor replied : — 

“ That couldn’t have been done by two, sir. There 
is such a lot of dunnage that a dozen men wouldn’t 
be able to do the work properly in any short 
time.” 


192 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“ Have you examined the bars of the cages to 
make certain one of them can’t be slipped aside ? ” 

“Ay, sir. I’ve had my hand on every bit of wood 
that goes to make up the prisons, an’ I’m sure all is 
as it should be.’’ 

“Then it stands to reason that we have a skulker 
among the dunnage. Most likely a boy, who wasn’t 
reckoned in as one of the prisoners, slipped on board 
with them and found a hiding-place.” 

“ It may be, sir,” Master Staples said thoughtfully, 
“but I stood at the foot of the ladder when the 
Frenchmen were sent below, an’ would be willin’ to 
take my solemn ’davy that not one of ’em got aft of 
the cages.” 

“ See to it that from this moment a stricter watch 
than usual be kept. Have not less than four men on 
duty all the time, and swing five or six battle-lanterns 
so that there may be no shadows for a skulker to 
hide in. As soon as we are in condition to lay our 
course again. I’ll have the hold thoroughly over- 
hauled.” 

With this Mr. Shaw, who had been seated at his 
desk, arose, and we took it as a signal that the inter- 
view was at an end, therefore went on deck without 
delay ; and once there the old man said to me, in a tone 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 1 93 

which told of his satisfaction at the result of the inter- 
view with the commander: — 

“ That’s the kind of a man to be in charge of a craft 
like ours ! He don’t get it into his head first pop that 
you’re tryin’ to give him guff, or laugh at a man when 
he has good reason to be mixed up in his mind. Now 
we can rest easy, Paul, for the business will be attended 
to in short order.” 

Then we went below, and Master Staples repeated 
the orders which had been given, thus putting on duty, 
even at a time when men were needed to get the ship 
into condition, twelve of those who might, perhaps, 
have been better employed elsewhere, although it is not 
for one like me to say so. 

Now I was comfortable in mind once more, since the 
commander had taken charge of the business, for there 
seemed to me little fear that anything serious could 
take place. 

At such times as I was not engaged playing the part 
of waiter to the frog-eaters, I watched the progress of 
the work on both vessels ; and at a late hour that night 
was the prize got under way for St. Kitts, where, so 
some of the marines said, we were to follow her with- 
out unnecessary delay. 

Until midnight our seamen were busy as bees over- 


194 'i'HE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

hauling the running rigging, while the carpenters 
patched and plugged till every shot-hole was properly 
stopped, and then the starboard watch was sent below, 
I, who had remained on deck with the idea that even 
the services of a boy might be needed, following them. 

Before I had gotten into my hammock old Jethro 
collared me, saying as he walked well aft, dragging me 
behind him to a spot where we might converse without 
being overheard : — 

“ I’m countin’ on havin’ a bit of a jaw with you, lad, 
seein’s how it ain’t convenient to come at Joe Staples. 
Tell me what took you over to the prize about noon.” 

There was no reason why I should not answer this 
question inasmuch as Jethro knew what had previously 
happened, and I gave him an account of all that had 
been done and said by Master Staples and myself since 
La Citoye7ine struck her colors. 

“So the ghosts have come below agin, eh.?” he said 
half to himself, and with the air of a man who tries to 
conceal his fears, whereat I made answer promptly : — 

“There can be no ghosts in this business. Master 
Jethro, as you must understand. It was a real, live 
man who unlocked those doors, of that we may be 
certain.” 

“ But I’d rather count it a ghost than think we had a 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 1 95 

traitor among us. An’ when it comes to that, lad, I 
tell you there’s nobody on board who’d play sich a 
trick. Joe Staples an’ I went over the names of all the 
crew, an’ I’d be willin’ to vouch for every mother’s son 
of ’em. We made sure the prisoners couldn’t slip out, 
for a cat wouldn’t be able to make her way between 
them ’ere bars, so it must be a ghost of some kind.” 

“Very well,” I said sleepily; “have it as you will, 
but I’m thinking the commander will come nearer the 
truth of the story when the hold has been searched.” 

Jethro remained silent an instant, as if in deep 
thought; and just when I believed he was about to 
make some sharp reply, thinking perhaps I had spoken 
too pertly, we were startled by a sudden outburst of 
shouts and yells from the lower hold. 

“Your ghosts are at it again ! ” I cried, running for- 
ward toward the hatchway and at the same time seiz- 
ing a cutlass from the arms stand near the foremast. 

Then I tumbled, rather than walked, down the 
ladder, finding myself immediately in the most con- 
fusing squabble that ever a man could wish to see. 

It was as if the lower hold was filled with men 
who were fighting their way desperately toward the 
hatchway, and held in check only by a few whom I 
understood were the guards. 


196 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

There was no need for me to ask questions, and 
indeed had I been eager to do so, no one there could 
have stopped sufficiently long to have answered them, 
because each of our fellows was fighting literally for 
his life against that infuriated throng of Frenchmen 
armed with missiles of various kinds, such as belay- 
ing-pins, fragments of plank, spare pump-handles, 
and, in fact, a specimen of almost everything which 
could have been found amid the dunnage. 

If it was a ghost who had unloosed that throng of 
fighters, then must it, or he, have spent many hours 
getting together the collection of odds and ends which 
served as weapons. And effective weapons they were, 
too, in that narrow space where Yankees and French- 
men were crowded so closely together that one could 
hardly raise his arms sufficiently high to wield a 
cutlass. 

I had dropped into the midst of the conflict with a 
cutlass in my hand; but before it was possible to 
find standing-room the weapon was swept from my 
grasp, and during a certain fraction of time, for I 
could not say whether one minute or five passed, it 
seemed as if I must literally be trampled under foot. 

Our people were standing with their backs to the 
ladder, while the Frenchmen were doing their best to 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 1 97 

get possession of this exit before those on deck could 
come to the rescue. 

Without really being conscious of doing so, I 
counted in one glance the number of guards who 
were striving against the enemy, and found but 
eight. 

Four must already have fallen, and the odds were 
so great against us that it seemed to me certain the 
frog-eaters would carry everything before them by 
sheer force of numbers at the next onrush. 

I saw Master Staples thrust here and there with his 
cutlass, and shout to encourage his shipmates : — 

“ Give them the point of the steel, lads, and don’t 
try to strike a blow, for it’s impossible ! ” 

As the men acted upon this suggestion there came 
shrieks of pain mingled with savage shouts of anger, 
and here and there I saw the enemy recoil as one or 
more of their number fell back lifeless, the crimson 
fluid spurting from their breasts in forceful jets that 
sent the blood to the deck timbers above. 

One of the lanterns had been overturned, and, 
breaking, the oil had poured out on the planking, 
burning there so fiercely as to threaten a conflagration. 

The salty odor of blood came to my nostrils; I 
was suffocated by the foul air which had been inhaled 


1 98 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

again and again by the occupants of the hold ; 
crushed in that tightly packed mob until it was as if 
every joint had been dislocated, and unable to make 
the slightest move by way of defence, because I had 
neither weapons nor an opportunity to use my fists. 

It was a scene well calculated to madden one, and 
while striving to force myself out from among the 
thin line of our crew, I thought that no punishment 
could be devised which would be too great for the 
demon who had set in motion this pandemonium. 

Then it was that I heard a sharp cry of command 
from above; I saw those of our fellows who were 
attempting to descend the ladder, leap here or there, 
regardless of whom they struck, and descending 
until his feet were near to touching my shoulders, 
stood the master of the Enterprise — Commander 
Shaw. 

“ Pass down the loaded muskets, you men on the 
gun-deck ! ” he shouted, and lowering his head that 
those who were struggling with the escaping prisoners 
might the better hear, he cried : — 

“ Empty the weapons as soon as they are sent 
down, and then pass them up again to be reloaded ! 
Make certain of your aim, and let every bullet find its 
mark! ” 


PROOFS OF TREACHERY 


199 


Even as he spoke I could see the butts of the 
muskets lowered, and when our men reached up to 
grasp them, the prisoners, understanding that there 
was no longer a possibility of successful resistance, 
melted away like dew before the sun as they ran, 
each to his particular cage. 

The uprising was at an end ; but it had cost human 
lives, as I could see by the lifeless bodies on the deck, 
around which crimson pools showed dully under the 
faint gleam of the lanterns. 

“Make fast the doors. Staples, and once that has 
been done, bring the keys to me. Carry the dead 
on deck for burial, and send those who are wounded 
into the cockpit.” 

Then the master of the Enterprise ascended the 
ladder, while we were left amid a scene of carnage 
which was more terrible than if it had been brought 
about in the heat of an engagement, wondering what 
demon had wrought the mischief, and knowing full 
well that he who skulked in the hold was respon- 
sible for it all. 


CHAPTER IX 


Miles Partlett 

T he scene in the hold when the attempt at escape 
had been checked, was sickening in the extreme, 
and I observed on turning my face toward the cages 
in order to shut out the view of what lay on the deck, 
that the prisoners themselves were shocked by the 
result of their worse than useless struggle. 

Two of our people had severe wounds about the 
head caused by clubs; five of the Frenchmen lay 
dead, each with a cutlass-thrust in his breast, and 
four were seriously disabled. 

The planking near about the foot of the ladder 
was slippery with blood, and the odor was sickening. 
In order to hold myself together, as it were, I was 
forced to go aft, and there face the black darkness 
of the hold while our people were clearing away the 
terrible tokens of the conflict. 

The wounded shrieked aloud in agony as they were 
half hoisted, half lifted through the narrow hatchway, 
and those who had received a sword-thrust were like 


200 


MILES PARTLETT 


201 


to bleed to death before they could be gotten into 
the cockpit, because of the rough handling necessary 
to get them out of the place. 

The shrill cries and the groans pierced my ears 
until I trembled with cowardice, and the cold drops 
of fear, like unto perspiration, literally bathed me in 
moisture. 

It was the most horrible situation in which a lad 
could be placed, and, above all my anguish of mind, 
I prayed that he who had been the means of bringing 
about this encounter — that skulker and traitor in the 
hold — might suffer all his life long what I was then 
suffering. 

I little dreamed on whose head I was invoking so 
much and such dire misery. 

At last, and when it seemed to me as if the day 
must already have dawned, all vestiges of the fray 
had been cleared away, save here and there the dark 
stains on the planks which neither soap, nor holystone, 
nor water would remove — stains which told where a 
human being had passed from this world into the 
next. 

Master Staples did not call upon me to lend a hand 
while this horrible work was being performed, and I 
was very grateful for his consideration, since, had I 


202 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


been summoned, all must have known by the trembling 
of my limbs and the pallor of my face, that I was at 
heart even as cowardly as Miles Partlett. 

Not until the terrible task was finished did the old 
sailor seek me out, and then he said, laying a friendly 
hand upon my shoulder : — 

“ Get on deck, lad. This is no place for you. Don’t 
fear that anything will be seen as you go up the 
ladder.” 

“ But I am afraid of being seen,” I replied in a 
whisper, “ for I shall show myself to the men for what 
I really am.” 

“ There’s no chance any one will call you a cow- 
ard, lad, an’ good reason why you should be in a 
blue funk. Of a verity this hold was like a shambles 
at the time when we strove to keep our own against 
that gang. There is no honor to be gained in a 
street brawl, and what has just been goin’ on here 
was hardly more than that. When a sailorman fights 
his vessel against another of equal strength, with 
victory dependin’ upon the handlin’ of his ship as 
well as the trueness of his aim, there comes to all of 
us the excitement caused by honorable warfare. But 
strugglin’ in the dark against a mob is dirty work.” 

Then he led me to the ladder, taking due care. 


MILES PARTLETT 


203 


out of the kindness of his heart, to come, between 
those of our people who were below, and myself, lest 
they should see my face and make comment upon 
it. 

I went directly into the open air where the first 
light of the rising sun could be seen on the eastern 

horizon, and there sank down behind the rail hoping 

to be left unmolested. 

It was Jethro Leighton who saw me come on deck, 
and quite naturally, he followed me. 

It had not been possible for the old man to make 
his way down the narrow ladder because of the press 
of numbers at the top, and therefore he knew no 
more of what had occurred than could be told when 
the dead and wounded were brought up. 

“ Give me the whole story, lad, if it so be you can, 

for I’m believin’ you had a dirty time of it down 

there for a spell.” 

The tears came into my eyes when I attempted to 
speak, and he, noting them, said in a soothing tone : — 

“ I’ve got a pretty generally good idee of how 
you’re feelin’, lad, an’ can’t blame you overly much ; 
but it stands you in hand to brace up considerably, 
else our shipmates will set you down for what I 
know you ain’t.” 


204 the cruise of the enterprise 

“And that’s a coward,” I said between my sobs. 

The old man nodded his head. 

“Well, they’d be right. Master Jethro. I am a cow- 
ard, and here are the signs of it.” 

“ I’m not so certain on that point, my lad ; an’ it’s 
doughnuts to dollars that if Joe Staples was hauled 
on deck jest now, you’d find him shakin’ as does a 
topsail when the ship is cornin’ about.” 

Then the old man soothed me in his rough way 
until the first deathly faintness caused by the scene 
had passed away, and I remained sufficiently master * 
of myself to be able to speak without crying; but as 
for telling Jethro the story, that was impossible. 

I myself knew nothing more than has been set 
down here, and I question if any man, save that 
demon who skulked in the hold, could have explained 
how all this slaughter began. For afterward, when 
talking with Master Staples, who had been on duty 
in the hold half an hour before the prisoners rushed 
out of the cages, I found him quite as ignorant as 
myself ; his men, acting as sentinels, were pacing from 
one side to the other, instead of fore and aft, when 
suddenly the prisoners were free to begin the attack. 

No one had seen any person tampering with the 
bolts and bars, and yet the doors were locked when 


MILES PARTLETT 205 

the old seaman and I went to make report to Mr. 
Wadsworth. 

However, I told Jethro all I knew, which was little 
enough, and then we fell to speculating as to the 
meaning of it all, continually coming back to the fact 
that we had on board somebody, neither a member 
of the crew, nor yet one of the prisoners, who had 
made his way into the hold without the knowledge 
of any person whatsoever, save it was the French- 
men themselves. 

“You may be certain the old man will smoke him 
out, whoever he is,” Jethro said, referring to our 
commander, when we were come to an end of our 
fruitless guesses. “ I’ll warrant that there’ll be an 
overhaulin’ of the dunnage before four an’ twenty 
hours have passed, an’ whosoever started that shindy 
will be run aloft with a rope around his neck. I’m 
countin’ on bein’ among them as tails on to the halter.” 

The Enterprise was now in proper shape, and on 
her course for St. Kitts. It was not likely any 
search would be made until we arrived in harbor, 
and I mentally nerved myself for the task of serving 
breakfast to the prisoners, although almost anything 
would have been preferable to going into that hold 
so lately tenanted by death. 


206 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


I succeeded in the task, however, but not without 
many an inward shudder and outward evidence of 
faintness ; and while thus engaged, observed that Mas- 
ter Staples had very wisely made a different disposal 
of his force. If the men had thus been stationed 
twelve hours ago, five lives and much suffering would 
have been saved. 

Now in front of each cage door stood an armed 
sentinel, and pacing fore and aft to a point ten or 
twenty feet beyond the last prison, was a fifth man. 
They were now guarding the prisoners against whom- 
soever lay hidden among the dunnage, rather than to 
prevent them from making a second attempt at es- 
cape, and of that kind of business surely the French- 
men had had a full dose. 

In such manner was the watch kept until we arrived 
in the harbor of St. Kitts, and during all this while I 
venture to say that Master Staples never once laid 
himself down for a nap ; whatsoever of sleep he 
gained was taken standing, or sitting on the bench 
where his slumbers were not likely to be prolonged. 

Within an hour after the Enterprise had come to 
an anchor midway between the two prizes, and when 
everything had been snugged down shipshape, all the 
crew, save those on duty in the hold, were summoned 


MILES partlp:it 


207 


on deck; and I’ll venture to say that every man jack 
of them was firmly convinced the time had come 
when we were to learn the secret regarding the 
uprising of the prisoners. 

That he realized fully how important was the situa- 
tion, could be seen when the commander took it upon 
himself to address the men and order the searching 
of the ship ; but this he did briefly : — 

“ It is not necessary for me to explain what you 
already know. We have had a traitor among us since 
the night of the engagement with La Citoyenne. I 
now propose to find that person, and ask that each 
of you consider himself personally responsible for the 
thoroughness of the search about to be made. If one 
of this crew is a traitor, it is absolutely necessary all 
be made acquainted with the fact ; therefore let each 
man watch his neighbor, for unless we find a skulker 
below, it goes without saying that there is treachery 
among ourselves. The port watch, under my com- 
mand, will be stationed above the hatch in such man- 
ner that no living thing can cross the deck without 
our knowledge. The starboard watch, led by Mr. 
Wadsworth, will go into the hold, and beginning at 
the bow, sweep, in a closely formed line, the entire 
length of the ship, examining every possible hiding- 


208 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


place. Let no man attempt to advance ahead of his 
neighbor; but all in a perfect line so that no villain 
can break through.” 

He who reads this can understand full well how the 
search was made, therefore it is not necessary for me 
to set down the details ; and, in fact, of my own 
knowledge I know nothing, because of remaining on 
the gun-deck during such time as the work was being 
done. 

I know, however, that the commander’s orders were 
obeyed to the letter ; that the starboard watch swept 
the ship from the bow straight aft, until they were 
come well into the wake, when I heard shouts of tri- 
umph, followed by exclamations of astonishment and 
even fear, and then a perfect babel of confusion, 
until Mr. Wadsworth’s voice, ringing clear and sharp, 
brought the men into order. 

Jethro remained by my side when the searching 
party filed down the ladder, and at the first outcry 
he said, clutching me by the wrist with a force suffi- 
cient to cause no little pain : — 

“They’ve got him, an’ all the yarns he may tell 
won’t save his neck ! ” 

“You speak as if knowing right well whom they 
have found.” 


MILES PARTLETT 20g 

^‘Fve made a guess at it, lad, an’ allow that I’m 
not far out of the way.” 

“ Who is it ” I asked, filled with curiosity, for 
until this moment the old sailor had declared that he 
could not so much as guess whether the skulker was 
a Frenchman or a Yankee. 

“ I won’t go into pertic’lars now, lad, ’cause I 
may be mistaken; but it has come to my mind since 
mornin’ that I could give a mighty clear guess as to 
the meanin’ of it all.” 

We could hear the shuffling of footsteps as the 
men came toward the ladder, and additional exclama- 
tions of surprise and amazement as they passed the 
sentinels, thus telling that he who had been cap- 
tured was known to all our people, and yet not so 
much as an inkling of the truth came to my mind. 

With my eyes riveted on the hatchway, I saw 
first appear half a dozen sailors, each of whom drew 
his cutlass on gaining the deck, and thus stood pre- 
pared to receive the wretched prisoner who followed. 

Jethro and I pressed yet nearer, and then it was 
to me as if I had received a bullet full in my heart; 
for emerging from the hatchway, forced on from 
behind by three or four men, was none other than 
Miles PartlettI 

p 


210 


TIIE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


Miles Partlett ! A lad who, coward though he 
had shown himself to be, I mourned for when it was 
believed he had died, as a brave fellow should, in the 
heat of action ! Miles Partlett ! He who was cred- 
ited on the ship’s log with having been knocked 
overboard during the battle ; a lad who disgraced 
himself before his shipmates ; who had evidently at 
one time nerved himself to look upon suicide as a 
positive relief, and who now stood revealed as that 
miserable wretch who would have given over our 
ship to the enemy — on whose soul lay the sin of 
what was neither more nor less than murder ! 

It seemed incredible! As if some person told you 
he had seen one risen from the dead, and then 
made good his words I 

In all my life I had never known anything so 
horrible ! 

During the years which may be allotted me here 
on earth, I pray never to come again upon so hor- 
rible a fact 

When I had sufficiently recovered from the stupe- 
faction to be capable of connected thought, the 
whole truth came upon me in a twinkling. I under- 
stood it all. 

Finding that the little schooner which we had ex- 


MILES PARTLETT 


21 


pected to capture without striking a blow was a 
veritable Tartar, and fearing, as usual, for his miser- 
able life, the lad had, by some unfortunate chance, 
succeeded in raising the hatch so far as to permit 
of the passage of his body, without being perceived 
by those who were engaged in the conflict. 

Once in the hold he was most likely overcome by 
fear at the contemplation of what his shipmates 
would do when this additional evidence of cowardice 
was made public, and therefore decided to remain 
in hiding indefinitely, counting, no doubt, on being 
able to slip ashore when next we made port. 

Having chosen this course, it was necessary he 
have food, and how could it be obtained save by 
making friends with the Frenchmen ? After that all 
was simple ; they hatched the plot, and he did what- 
soever they told him in the carrying out of the plan, 
fearing to disobey their commands lest they discover 
him to us. He was favored in the wicked scheme 
by the manner in which our sentinels were stationed, 
for it was easy to find a hiding-place among the 
dunnage. 

It is not necessary for me to set down any further 
speculations on the subject, and in fact, at that time, 
when I was literally weak from the shock caused by 


212 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


seeing him, there was no idea in my mind of at- 
tempting to reason out the details. 

This same Miles whom I had called my comrade, 
and would have done whatsoever I might for his well- 
being, was the person for whose life the crew clam- 
ored, and who, as I could not but admit, deserved 
the most shameful death. 

I did not have the heart to follow on deck to see 
him stand a worse than traitor before the com- 
mander; but I knew later that no word was spoken 
by either of the officers. 

The miserable wretch was taken to the break of 
the quarter, and there, hanging his head with shame as 
well he might, all gazed at him in anger and reproach. 

There was no sign of pity shown, and, finally, 
when it must have seemed as if half a lifetime had 
been spent in that terrible scrutiny, his legs and arms 
were ironed, and he was thrust into a small store-room 
which led out from Mr. Wadsworth’s cabin. 

At the door of this prison was stationed a marine, 
and it was understood by the crew that a guard 
would stand over him day and night until his fate 
was decided. 

It cut me to the heart, despite the fact that the 
lad would have done us such cruel wrong, when I 


MILES PARTLETT 


213 


remembered having prayed that whosoever was re- 
sponsible for such a scene as I had witnessed in the 
hold would be made to suffer severely because of 
his crimes. It was, to my mind, almost as if I had 
had some part in bringing him to where he now 
stood, an object of scorn to all honest people, and 
my heart was sore within me. 

Jethro Leighton remained by my side in silence 
for ten minutes or more after Miles Partlett had been 
taken on deck, and then he said, speaking in the 
most friendly tone: — 

“ It stands to reason, lad, that you’re takin’ all this 
to heart, an’ yet it’s your duty to put a different face 
on the matter.” 

“ What do you mean ” I asked, so nearly stupe- 
fied by the terrible discovery that I failed to under- 
stand the drift of his words. 

“ You mustn’t look at this affair as if it concerned 
you in any way. Miles Partlett was your shipmate 
so long as he behaved like an honest lad; but the 
moment he went wrong, you broke away from him, 
an’ that settles the whole business as completely as 
if you had never known him.” 

I made no reply to this remark, simply because 
words failed me. It would be impossible to make 


214 the cruise of the enterprise 

the old sailor understand all that was in my heart ; 
and even though he should realize it, I question if 
his advice would have been different. 

Master Jethro saw that he was not on the right 
tack, if he would soothe my grief, and he tried a 
sailor’s dose — hard work. 

Within five minutes’ time he had set me half 
a dozen tasks, every one of which, according to his 
representations, must be performed immediately, and 
took it upon himself to threaten me with the rope’s 
end if I did not “stir my stumps in proper style.” 

I did as he commanded without really knowing in 
what manner my hands were occupied, and paid but 
little attention when Joe Staples came up to where 
Jethro was lounging against the gun he had ordered 
me to polish. 

Even though my mind was in such a whirl, I could 
not avoid hearing what the old sailor said to my task- 
master, because of the fact that he spoke on the one 
subject to which I could really give heed. 

“ I’m allowin’ Miles Partlett will be hanged by 
sunrise to-morrow, if it so be the commander counts 
on doin’ what’s needed,” Joe said, as if the only 
question in the whole matter was as to the time which 
might be set for the execution. 


MILES PARTLETT 


215 


“ It stands to reason there’ll be a trial, an’ I’m 
reckonin’ that the little villain won’t get his just de- 
serts much before the next day,” Jethro replied care- 
lessly. 

“What beats me is, that a boy who has been 
brought up as it’s reasonable to suppose Miles Part- 
lett was, should go so far wrong in sich a short 
time.” 

“ It all comes from his bein’ a coward. I never 
knew one of those white-feather duffers what wasn’t 
mean all the way through.” 

“ But surely. Master Jethro,” I interrupted, “ Miles 
had no idea of turning traitor when he went into the 
hold to hide ! ” 

“ I grant you that, lad ; but once there he listened 
to any plan the frog-eaters liked to make, ready to 
give over his shipmates and the ship, if by so doin’ 
he could keep his precious body safe an’ sound. It 
is, ’cordin’ to my way of thinkin’, jest as bad as if 
he’d been figgerin’ for a month or more on how to 
set the prisoners free.” 

Joe Staples was on the point of airing his views on 
the subject when one of the marines came up hur- 
riedly, and not seeing me because at the moment I 
was standing behind one of the guns, said sharply ; — 


2I6 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ Paul Burton is wanted aft. Do you know where 
he is.?” 

“ Who’s in sich a hurry to see the lad .? ” Jethro 
asked in a tone of irritation, as if he felt seriously dis- 
pleased because I had been summoned aft. 

“The commander himself, an’ it won’t be comfort- 
able for the lad if he don’t show up precious soon.” 

I stepped from behind the gun, and the marine 
cried breathlessly, as if employed on business which 
admitted of no delay : — 

“You’re to report to Commander Shaw at once, boy, 
so see to it that you move lively ! ” 

“ He’ll come near movin’ ’cordin’ to his own idees, 
without takin’ any orders from a lobster like you,” 
Joe Staples cried angrily, stepping menacingly toward 
the marine, who thought it prudent to go aft as fast 
as he had come forward. 

“Well, lad,” Jethro said, laying his hand on my 
shoulder, “it stands you in hand to obey orders, for 
you’re bound to move lively, even though we wouldn’t 
allow that half-baked soldier-sailor to lay down the 
law.” 

" I was thoroughly frightened, as I asked : — 

“ Do you suppose the officers believe I had any hand 
in. Liie mischief Miles has done .? ” 


MILES PARTLETT 


217 


“Not a bit of it, my lad. Don’t bother your head 
with sich nonsense as that. I allow the commander 
wants to find out how the villain carried hisself while 
he messed with the crew, an’ you’d be more likely to 
know all that than one of us old shell-backs. Get on, 
my boy, an’ put your fears out of mind.” 

Despite Jethro’s encouraging words, I was as timor- 
ous as a lad well could be when I descended the com- 
panionway leading to Mr. Shaw’s quarters ; but his 
friendly nod when I had saluted went far toward 
restoring my courage. 

“ I hear that your behavior aboard the schooner 
has been even better than might have been expected 
from a green hand,” he began, and I could not for the 
life of me decide whether any reply should be made to 
such a remark. 

After a pause, which seemed to me very long, he 
said in a kindly tone : — 

“ Inasmuch as you and Miles Partlett were the only 
boys aboard, it stands to reason that you were mates.” 

“ We were, sir, till the men put upon him because 
he hid himself when we went into action,” I replied. 

“ And then you sided with the crew against 
him .? ” 

“No, sir; I tried to show him that he was in as''ii‘Aich 


2I8 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


danger below, as on deck ; but he refused to have very 
much to say to me when the crew began knocking 
him about” 

“ Did you have any idea he might have been the 
skulker which caused you and Staples so much 
anxiety ? ” 

“ Oh, no, sir,” I made haste to say, thinking he was 
trying to prove that I was in some degree responsible 
for the crime Miles had committed. “ I supposed that 
he was dead, sir.” 

“Then you, in common with some others, believed 
the lad had been knocked overboard during the engage- 
ment .^ ” he asked after a pause, and I knew from such 
a question that mine was not the first interview he had 
held on the same subject during the forenoon. 

“ We could not think of him in any other way, sir, 
for he disappeared during the action, and Master 
Staples was certain no one could go below without 
his knowledge.” 

“ Do you know anything regarding his parents ? ” 

“ No, sir, only that it was said his father had suf- 
ficient influence with the Congress to have him taken 
on board here.” 

“Do you know that he wants to speak with you.?” 

I looked up in surprise and dismay. The idea of 


MILES PARTLETT 


219 

holding converse with Miles at any time was most 
disagreeable, and I shrank from even seeing him. 

“ Apparently you are not willing to grant his re- 
quest,” the commander said, eying me sharply. 

“ I had rather not, sir. There is nothing I can 
say which would do him any good, and I should be 
forced to tell him that the men swear he shall be 
hanged.” 

“ So it is the opinion of the crew that he deserves 
death ? ” 

“ That is what they all say, sir ; but it seems cruel 
to kill a lad who fell into his wickedness through 
cowardice.” 

“ The prisoner has asked to have an interview with 
you, and I am disposed to grant the request.” 

“ Now, sir.? ” I asked in alarm. 

“Yes, because I have decided to send him home for 
trial, lest it should be said that I acted while under 
the influence of anger. Our last prize will be con- 
verted into a cartel in order that all our prisoners 
may be sent to a home port, and he will go with 
them ; you can tell him so.” 

Having heard this I was no longer unwilling to 
go to the miserable lad, because surely it would give 
him relief of mind to know that he need have no 


220 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


fear of immediate death, and I said as much to the 
commander, whereupon, summoning a marine, he 
ordered that I be led to the narrow quarters which 
served as a prison for the traitor. 

Miles was sitting on the floor, his back against 
the bulkhead, unable to move because of the irons 
which fettered his limbs, and one glance at his face 
was enough to show that he realized fully the depth 
of infamy to which he had brought himself. 

“ The orders are that you shall go inside and the 
door, be locked upon you,” the guard said, and I heard 
the words as if from afar off ; but had sufficient con- 
sciousness of the situation to step within the tiny 
apartment, when immediately we were in darkness, 
for once the door had been closed there was no 
longer any aperture to admit light. 

Even for this I was thankful, because it pained me 
to look into that face which was so ghastly with 
horrible fears. 

“I didn’t think they’d let you come,” Miles began, 
and I could well understand that he was at a loss 
for words with which to begin the conversation. 

“ It was the commander himself who sent me here.” 

“ What do the men say about — about — what I 


did .? ” 


MILES PARTLETT 


221 


It was a hard question to answer ; but after a brief 
pause I made up my mind that the lad should know 
exactly how the crew viewed his treachery, and I gave 
it to him plainly. 

“ Do you think they will hang me ” he asked with 
a whine. “That’s what the marine said they counted 
on doing.” 

“ If the men had their way, Miles Partlett, I be- 
lieve you would be run up within an hour; but Com- 
mander Shaw has just told me that you are to be 
sent home for trial.” 

“ Home ! ” the wretched lad repeated. “ How can 
I go there They had better kill me now, and have 
an end of it.” 

“You can’t have your choice. Miles, after all that 
has happened. Through you five men have been 
killed and four^wounded ; if the plan had been car- 
ried out a little earlier, no one can say how terrible 
might have been the result. Certain it is that the 
schooner would be in the hands of the enemy, and 
very many of her crew dead.” 

The boy made no reply, and I, fancying full well 
how much of agony there might be in his heart, 
refrained from saying anything more which might 
add to it. 


222 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


We remained there in silence perhaps five minutes, 
and then he said petulantly, more like a child who 
is deprived of some pleasure than a lad who was 
stained with blood : — 

“ I thought you would treat me differently ; but 
I suppose you are bound to follow the example of 
the men.” 

If he had been my own brother, I could not at 
that moment have refrained from saying harsh things; 
and, without mincing words, I put before him all his 
evil actions exactly as they were, concluding by 
saying : — 

“ How do you expect any one could treat you in 
an affectionate manner. Miles, after all that has 
been done ? But for the fact that the commander 
allowed me to bring the news that you were to be 
sent home instead of hanged, I would have begged 
not to be forced to see your face again. Do you 
think that we, who stood so near death or imprison- 
ment because of your treachery, can look upon it as 
a trifling matter ? ” 

“ I wouldn’t have chummed in with the French- 
men unless I had needed something to eat.” 

“ Why did you go into the hold in the first 
place ? ” 


MILES PARTLETT 


223 


“ Because the little schooner was pouring shot into 
us at such a rate that there didn’t seem to be one 
chance in a hundred a fellow could get out of the 
scrape with his life.” 

“ And yet you have come to know that there are 
worse things than death, Miles. Do you want to 
say any more to me ” 

“ I didn’t count on getting a dressing down when 
I asked you to come.” 

“What did you want.?” 

“ I thought you might help me, seeing as how 
you always allowed to be such a friend.” 

“No one can help you now. Miles, not even the 
commander himself. You must stand a trial for what 
you have done, and bear the punishment, whatever 
may be inflicted, like a man.” 

“ If that’s all you’ve got to say, there’s no need 
of your staying any longer,” he cried in a tone of 
irritation, and without delay I knocked on the door 
as a signal to the sentinel that I wished to come out. 

Short as had been the time occupied by the inter- 
view, I found matters in a fine state of confusion 
when I went on deck again. 

The prize. La Citoyenne, had been warped along- 
side the Enterprise, and already was the work of 


224 the cruise of THE ENTERPRISE 

transferring the prisoners from our hold into hers 
begun. 

Every member of the crew showed plainly the 
relief he felt at being rid of the Frenchmen; and 
little wonder, for it was like carrying loose powder 
to have them below in such numbers. 

Jethro saw me as I came up the companion way, 
and waited at the break of the quarter for me to 
join him. 

“ Well, our coward is gettin’ off easier than he 
deserves ? ” the old man said questioningly ; and I, 
remembering the expression on the lad’s face, 
replied : — 

“ I’m not so certain. Master Leighton, but that it 
would be a favor to hang him offhand, for he’ll suf- 
fer terribly in mind between now and the time the 
prize arrives in port.” 

“ I hope so ! ” the old man said fervently. “ He’s 
needin’ a deal of severe punishment, an’ all he gets 
won’t be enough to square matters.” 

“ Do you know if he is to be kept with the other 
prisoners ” 

“ Bless you, no. They give a traitor better quar- 
ters than they do honest seamen who fight for their 
country, so it seems. Miles Bartlett will have quar- 


MILES PARTLETT 


225 


ters in one of the small cabins aft; but you can 
make certain that from the time the prize gets under 
way until Yankee officers go on board to carry him 
to jail, there will be mighty close watch kept over 
him.” 


Q 


CHAPTER X 


Again the Lugger 

T WAS fortunate in not seeing Miles Partlett again 
* prior to his departure, and this exceeding relief was 
in a measure due to myself, because I took especial 
pains to bring it about. 

The prisoners having been transferred to the prize 
which was converted into a cartel, there remained for 
me no other duties save such as would naturally de- 
volve upon “ the boy ” aboard a vessel of war, and, as 
may be imagined, these were not arduous. 

I was at liberty to go here or there when relieved 
from duty by the officer of the watch to which I had 
been assigned ; and, therefore, anxious to avoid a sec- 
ond interview with Miles, I spent the greater portion 
of the time which elapsed before the sailing of La 
Citoyenne well forward, curled up between two guns 
where was the least likelihood of attracting attention. 

To this hiding-place it was that I fled after having 
come from the interview with the traitor, and here 
also I was followed by Jethro and Joe Staples, who, 


226 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


227 


finding me in a pitiful state of collapse, waited like 
the tender-hearted shipmates they were until I should 
have recovered somewhat. 

And here I want to set it down that these two old 
shell-backs, men accustomed to the seamy rather than 
the smooth side of life, whose words were coarse and 
whose actions were uncouth, had hearts more tender 
than one could find in the average lad. Honest they 
were without boasting of it ; true friends ever ready to 
deal a blow or speak a soothing word accordingly as 
they believed one or the other to be necessary. I 
owe them much for numberless little acts of kindness 
which more refined men would have neglected en- 
tirely, and am their debtor for all the good nature 
which licks into shape without distortion that cub of 
a boy who has been sent to sea in order that he may 
the sooner become a man. 

Well, these two old barnacles respected the grief 
which was come upon me, and not being willing to 
leave me alone, yet realizing that conversation at such 
a time might be disagreeable, they squatted on the 
deck near where I was lying, and smoked in silence. 

No other person can really understand how much of 
a boon it was to have those two old shell-backs so 
kindly and true, waiting close by to lend me a hand 


228 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


when I was in condition to receive one. There was 
in their silence that evidence of tender-heartedness 
which I shall never forget, and knowing how sweet 
to me in the time of my trouble was their simple good 
nature combined with keen watchfulness, I have ever 
tried to pay the debt they put upon me by dealing out 
to lads, with whom I have come in contact since then, 
that same true friendliness. 

Words fail to express all the affection which I came 
to know for those old cronies. As memory brings 
their faces before me now, my heart goes out to them 
in love, and I feel keenly my inability to express the 
debt of gratitude which I owe to both. 

The task of transferring the prisoners from the 
Enterprise to La Citoyenne was begun almost immedi- 
ately after I quitted Miles Partlett’s prison, and was 
concluded by the' time I was ready to give attention to 
my two old friends. 

Jethro Leighton made me aware of this fact by 
saying in a careless tone, as if the matter was of no 
especial importance to himself or me : — 

“ All the bad blood which was on the Enterprise has 
been taken away ; we’re a clean ship once more, and 
ready to cruise about in search of another prize.” 

There was a question on my face as L looked up 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


229 


at him, and he, understanding that it was my wish to 
know if Miles yet remained aboard, said quietly : — 

“ We have transshipped them all, and can now 
begin to lead the life of honest privateersmen, with 
nothing to make us sad or ashamed, save that which 
comes in the regular course of war.” 

To this statement Joe Staples added: — 

“ The cartel will be under way in less than half 
an hour, with Midshipman Powers in command. By 
fitting out two prize crews our force is reduced to 
seventy-one ; but, bless you, lad, we’ll be big enough 
for any Frenchman we shall find cruisin’ in these ’ere 
waters. If not, we know full well that our schooner 
can show her heels to anything that floats.” 

Having thus attracted my attention and drawn me 
out from the shroud of sorrow which had enveloped 
me, the two old shell-backs set about, in a delicate way, 
to learn the particulars of my interview with Miles. 

Understanding that it was their right to know all 
which had taken place, and eager to be done with 
the disagreeable story. as soon as possible, I hurriedly 
repeated that which had been said to me by the 
unhappy lad, and I having come to the end of the 
tale, Jethro added with the air of one who gives a 
command : — 


230 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


“ From this day out we’ll drop the subject, lad. It 
doesn’t leave a pleasant taste in an honest man’s 
mouth, an’ there’s no good sense in harkin’ back on 
it.” 

“ I reckon we’ve got a tidy bit of work to do 
before leavin’ port again,” Joe Staples said, half to 
himself ; “ but once that’s done, we’ll be ready to 
show what the little E^iterprise can do in the carry in’ 
on of this ’ere war which, as I understand it, is no 
real war at all, so far as the lawyers would argue it.” 

And Jethro added solemnly: — 

“ I’m lookin’, Paul, to see you win a commission 
before this ’ere cruise has come to an end, but 
you’re to forget all that has happened from the day 
we left port, save that thus far you’ve done your 
duty like a man.” 

Then the old fellows set about discussing the 
chances of our finding other prizes on the cruising 
grounds to which we had been assigned, and during the 
conversation harked back to the behavior of the three- 
masted lugger which, after having sent a challenge, 
absolutely refused to give us battle. 

They talked idly now and then when the ordinary 
subjects of conversation failed, and seemed so desir- 
ous of beguiling the hours, that I grew curious as to 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


231 


their intentions, until finally the shouts of our men 
on deck told that the cartel was getting under way. 
Then it was I knew that these true friends had 
simply been trying to divert my attention until all 
that had caused me so much trouble was out of 
sight. 

Not until an hour later did they make any move 
toward a change of position, and then Master Jethro, 
with many a grave word of command as if he had 
just begun to realize that I was wasting time, set 
me about the almost useless task of polishing one of 
the guns. 

When, toward sunset, I went on deck, the Enter- 
prise and La Seine were alone in the harbor save for 
a few fishing vessels. 

I breathed a long sigh of relief,, for it was to me 
as if a new cruise had just been begun, and I found 
that the sorrow in my heart was giving way to an 
intense desire to be in action once more. 

Lest I spend too many words on that which will 
be of but little interest to those who read these lines, 
I propose to cut short any account of our further 
stay in the harbor of St. Kitts. 

We had so far retaken three American vessels 
and captured an equal number of the enemy, thus 


232 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


putting to the credit of the Enterprise six vessels, 
which alone would serve to make up a successful 
cruise if no other work should be done, and because 
of this, most likely, the commander believed he was 
entitled to spend all the time necessary in thoroughly 
refitting the schooner. 

During ten days did we remain in harbor, all 
hands working like beavers to obliterate the scars of 
warfare, and then was come the time when, amid the 
joyous cheers of the men, we put to sea once more, 
little dreaming what a happy trick fortune was about 
to play upon us. 

We laid a southeasterly course, passing between 
Antigua and Desirade, and on the second day out, 
when the Enterprise was bowling along with a good 
ten-knot breeze, there came from the lookout that 
hail which plunged us as usual into a fever of excite- 
ment. 

A large, three-masted vessel was reported down to 
leeward, and it stood us in hand to learn without 
loss of time whether she was of such weight as 
warranted a chase, for it would be decidedly un- 
pleasant if we should suddenly find ourselves forced 
to play the part of pursued, instead of pursuer. 

Many a time had our old sea-lawyers argued as 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 233 

to whether the commander would be so reckless as 
to attack a ship very much heavier than ourselves, 
and when we last lay in the harbor of St. Kitts, it 
was decided among them that Mr. Shaw had shown 
a sufficient amount of good seamanship to warrant 
them in the belief that he would not needlessly risk 
the destruction of his own vessel. 

Therefore it was, when we bore away in chase, 
that all hands believed our officers would gain a 
very good idea of what might be ahead of us before 
taking many chances, and this belief was strength- 
ened when in turn Mr. Shaw and each of the lieu- 
tenants went aloft to scan the stranger with their 
glasses. 

An hour later, just as we could make out from the 
deck the upper spars of the chase, I was surprised by 
hearing Mr. Wadsworth cry : — 

“ Leighton, take my glasses, and see what you 
make of yonder sail ! ” 

It was an odd command of a verity, this sending a 
common seaman aloft to scrutinize the stranger when 
all of our officers had spent considerable time at the 
task. The old shell-backs on deck looked on in sur- 
prise as Jethro marched gravely up to the break of 
the quarter, took the glass from the officer’s hand, 


234 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


and then clawed his way aloft, monkey fashion, to 
the crosstrees. 

I was watching the old man intently, thinking that 
he would be puffed up with pride at being thus chosen 
from among all the crew to give an opinion ; and there- 
fore it was that I saw, or fancied I saw him start in 
astonishment after one glance, then polishing the 
glasses vigorously with the sleeve of his coat, look 
again. 

A good ten minutes did Jethro spend at the mast- 
head, and when he came down there was on his face 
an expression of most decided satisfaction. 

Every man in the vicinity crowded aft when the 
old fellow went to make his report, and I, who was 
as near as good breeding and the rules of the ship 
would allow, heard him say to Mr. Wadsworth: — 

“ It’s the same craft, sir, an’ this time I hope there 
won’t be many minutes spent in sendin’ a challenge.” 

“ Little fear of that, Leighton,” the second lieutenant 
said with a laugh ; and as he turned away all hands 
gathered around Jethro, demanding that he explain 
the meaning of his words. 

I fancy the old seaman thoroughly enjoyed his 
importance just then, for he hung in the wind while 
his mates plied him with questions; and finally, having 









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AGAIN THE LUGGER 


235 


kept them in suspense as long as he thought safe, he 
asked, with a fine flourish of his hand in the direction 
of the chase : — 

“ What do you think yonder craft may be ? ” 

“We’re waitin’ for you to tell us,” Joe Staples said 
irritably. “Come down off your high horse, Jethro 
Leighton, an’ let us know what we’re chasin’ ! ” 

“ It’s an old friend of ours, Joe, an’ one you’ll 
be glad to lay aboard ; for this time there will be no 
loiterin’ at anchor for her, while we’re runnin’ off an’ 
on coolin’ our heels.” 

“The three-masted lugger!” Joe Staples cried in 
excitement. “ If you love me, Jethro, tell us it’s the 
three-masted lugger I ” 

“ I’m not so certain about lovin’ you, Joe, but it’s 
she all the same; an’ accordin’ to what I’ve seen of 
her, we’ll soon be where our bow guns can hail.” 

Had a stranger been suddenly dropped on the deck 
of the Enterprise at that instant, he would have be- 
lieved that every man jack of the crew had gone crazy, 
so wild were the demonstrations of joy made by the 
men. 

There was no vessel sailing under the French flag 
which we would have been better pleased to meet with 
than this same lugger, which had challenged in port 


236 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

in order to make a great show of bravery to the people 
ashore, and then cowardly refused to meet us. 

No one reckoned the chances for success or failure. 
Even though we had known she was twice our weight, 
every man aboard would have cried out in anger had 
the commander changed his course through motives 
of prudence. 

On every previous occasion I had seen our men 
make ready for action by a careless glance at the 
guns and the ammunition which had been supplied for 
the opening of a battle ; but now all, except those 
absolutely on duty, went from piece to piece examining 
each carefully, and remedying this or that fancied 
defect. They were as nice about it as a housewife 
is in preparing for some fastidious guest ; and no one 
waited to call upon him whose duty it was to do this 
or that particular thing, but performed the task him- 
self, until we should have made a brave display at the 
beginning of the action even if we were pitted against 
a frigate. 

When we had run the chase hull down, those 
below demanded from their mates on deck reports 
every few moments as to the condition of affairs ; and 
I firmly believe that, if anything had prevented our 
coming alongside that Frenchman, the old shell-backs, 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 237 

hardened though they were, would actually have shed 
tears because of mortification and sorrow. 

But nothing did prevent. The wind held friendly, 
and the lugger, laboring on, hoping against hope that 
she might escape meeting an enemy weaker than her- 
self, dared not even show her colors. 

From our masthead the stars and stripes were float- 
ing a brave defiance, and I could well fancy that 
those on the deck of the lugger must have imagined 
there was a certain menace even in the schooner her- 
self, as she bore down upon them like some living 
thing eager for the contest. 

We knew, or believed we did, that the chase car- 
ried the same number of guns as we, but had nearly 
twice as many men as were on board the Enterprise ; 
yet that disparity in numbers was not considered for 
a moment by the seamen who were so eager to make 
reprisals for the disappointment we had suffered. 

We persuaded ourselves that she would stand up 
to us bravely when there was no longer hope she 
could escape, for there must have been some aboard 
who had courage, otherwise that challenge would not 
have been sent when we laid at anchor, — unless, indeed, 
they had counted from the first to deceive us ; and at 
the prospect of a hot action I began to grow timorous. 


238 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

for there was nothing with which to occupy my hands, 
the men doing all of the work themselves as if it was 
a labor of love. 

During four hours I moved here and there, striving 
most earnestly to keep my thoughts from what 
appeared to be before us, and then was forced to 
bring to mind Miles Partlett’s disgrace in order to 
fight back the cowardice which assailed me. 

However, it is not well that I set down too much 
regarding myself in this effort to give an account of 
the wonderful cruise of the Enterprise. 

It is enough if I say that four hours after Jethro 
went aloft to decide the question of identity, we 
pitched a shot from one of our bow guns over the 
lugger as a gentle hint that she heave to; and every 
member of the crew stood motionless, watching 
eagerly, as if afraid she might serve us the trick of 
striking her colors without first showing her teeth. 

Instead of obeying the command given by our gun, 
the Frenchman held his wind a bit, and let fly a 12- 
pound shot with very poor aim, for the missile struck 
the water fifty yards astern of us. 

This evidence that she was willing to try conclu- 
sions, however, plunged our men into a frenzy of joy, 
and they cheered again and again, as if the enemy 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


239 

had done them some wonderfully good service in 
thus evincing a willingness to capture their ship. 

There was no need of sending the men to quarters, 
for they had voluntarily gone there half an hour 
previous ; and when we came up into the wind in 
order that our broadside might be brought to bear, 
every gunner was waiting for the command. 

“ Aim at her spars ! ” Mr. Wadsworth shouted, 
“ and begin work as soon as you choose ! ” 

The officer must have been surprised by the celer- 
ity displayed in obeying orders, for the words had 
no more than been spoken when our guns were dis- 
charged, and I, craning my neck out of the port-hole 
even while the men were hauling in the piece pre- 
paratory to reloading, saw the white splinters fly 
from main and mizzenmast, telling that at the first 
discharge we had wounded those spars. 

While standing there, forgetting that I had ever 
been in the slightest degree timorous, I saw jets of 
smoke, amid which could be distinguished tongues of 
flame, spout out from the lugger’s side, and then half 
a dozen shot went hurtling over our deck, plunging 
with a hiss and a scream into the sea beyond. 

The crew of the Enterprise cheered — cheered 
because they had been fired upon ; and if those 


240 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


aboard the lugger heard the outcries, they must have 
understood, however dimly, the eagerness of our peo- 
ple to engage in battle with them. 

Never before nor since have I seen guns loaded 
and discharged so rapidly. I believe, truly, that we 
fired three broadsides while the enemy was discharg- 
ing one, and then a groan went up from every shell- 
back aboard the schooner, as the lugger’s colors 
were hauled down in token of submission. 

It was much the same as if she had struck when 
we fired the first gun, and the disappointment aboard 
us was extreme. 

“ If we had met in yonder lugger them as manned 
La Citoyenne, this ’ere make-believe of an action would 
have been a battle,” Master Jethro said bitterly. 
“ It’s a disgrace to honest men for the frog-eaters to lay 
down without so much as showing fight.” 

“They’re cowards, an’ we had good reason to know 
it when they refused to come out after havin’ asked 
a favor of us,” Joe Staples replied. “They’re sich 
cowards as make a man ashamed he’s a human 
bein’.” 

Then from one and another came angry and scorn- 
ful words until there was such a tumult on the gun- 
deck that Mr. Wadsworth was forced to order us to 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 24 1 

“shut our mouths,” in order that the commander 
might hear the reply made to his hail. 

According to the custom of seamen the enemy 
should have been spoken before we fired, and there- 
fore we would have known with whom we were 
fighting; but because the lugger’s people had already 
shown themselves cowards, we treated them to the 
discourtesy of first speaking through the mouths of 
our guns. 

Now Mr. Shaw was about to take possession, and 
regardless of their having shown the white feather, 
he proceeded to do so in proper fashion. 

“ Ahoy on the lugger ! Who are you ? ” 

The reply came in French ; but one of our men 
who had for a certain time hailed from Havre, trans- 
lated for me the words which were, in substance, 
that the prize was the Bon Amiy a letter of marque 
carrying twelve guns and a crew of ninety-one men. 
In addition to this force she had a dozen passengers 
or more, among whom was a general officer and a 
captain in the French army. 

At the moment we never even dreamed that these 
two last named gentlemen could by any possibility be 
of service to us ; but a few days later we found them 
of more value than even the lugger herself. 


242 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


To show how faint hearted were those frog-eaters 
who could send out a challenge while lying in a 
neutral port and then deliberately back down from 
their own words, it is only necessary to say that not 
a drop of blood had been spilled during the short 
engagement. They had lowered their colors without 
having any reason therefor, and old Jethro said, com- 
menting upon the fact : — 

“ If we of the Enterprise had allowed ourselves to 
do such a thing as that, Td have asked somebody 
to hit me a clip on the nose, so we might show 
some little signs of blood.” 

We were yet near St. Kitts, and Commander Shaw 
decided to run back to that port. Although it had 
been shown that there was little need of such pre- 
cautions, he sent the Bon Ami's crew between decks, 
allowing the officers and passengers to remain in the 
cabin under parole. 

A prize crew of six men was thrown aboard, and 
both ships put about on a direct course for the 
harbor we had just left. 

If I were to set down all the disparaging words 
spoken by our men against the enemy we had cap- 
tured, an hundred pages like this would not suffice 
to contain them. From the moment we bore up for 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


243 


port, every mother’s son on board grumbled because 
the lugger had surrendered so readily, as if he was 
in some way defrauded of his rights through not 
being allowed to stand his chances of receiving a 
wound ; and very unfavorable to the men of the 
lugger were the references made to our meeting the 
little schooners which had been fought so desperately 
against overwhelming odds. 

“When it comes to takin’ prizes, this ’ere cruise is 
what you might call a bloomin’ success,” Jethro said 
that evening to a group of his shipmates who were 
gathered forward discussing the very tame events of 
the day. “ Mind you, I say in the way of takin’ 
prizes ; but when it comes to a satisfactory piece of 
business, then we’re out of it. I ain’t one of these 
’ere blood-thirsty villains what needs to cut an’ slash 
all the time ; an’ by the same token I ain’t a meek 
little lamb what wants the grass brought and put in 
his mouth, so he won’t have the trouble of gnawin’ 
on it. It’s what I call a failure, this ’ere voyage. 
When we run across a craft somewhere near our own 
size, who could hold us in hand long enough to give 
the men an idee of fightin’, she strikes her colors, an’ 
there you are. Nothin’ to do but transship the 
prisoners, send ’em below, an’ toddle back to port. 


244 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


If you run across a little whiflet of a yawl boat with 
half a dozen men, they’ll fight like Kilkenny cats; 
an’ it makes you ashamed of yourself to fire into ’em, 
’cause it’s much like settin’ a cow to catch mice.” 

Then Joe Staples took up the song. 

“ I’ve hearn tell that these frog-eaters counted them- 
selves somethin’ big when it was a case of fightin’ ; 
but barrin’ the little schooners Jethro speaks of, we 
don’t see any of that terrible bravery. Why, ’cordin’ 
to our experience on this ’ere cruise. I’d have one 
hand tied behind me, an’ then consider myself equal 
to five of these ’ere dandified Parleyvous. It’s almost 
sickenin’ when you come to think of it, an’ then 
again, it’s a case of spoilin’ what might be a decent 
crew if they had the proper chance. In case the 
Enterprise keeps on pickin’ up this sort of cattle, we’ll 
get to be so bad that when a second broadside is 
fired we’re bound to haul down our colors because of 
gettin’ used to that sort of thing.” 

“ The prize money comes in all the same,” one of 
the younger members of the crew said gleefully. 
“We can tassel our neckerchiefs with big, round dol- 
lars, an’ not have to lay out much money for stickin’- 
plaster.” 

“The dollars ain’t the whole of this ’ere business,” 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


245 


Jethro replied solemnly, and in a tone of reproach. 
“We’re out to make the Frenchmen understand that 
they can’t come foolin’ ’round our waters playin’ hob 
whichever way they choose; an’ it isn’t goin’ to be 
done by pickin’ up these ’ere little smacks filled with 
innocent children what are afraid of a noise. As I 
said before, I ain’t roamin’ ’round jest for the sake of 
tryin’ my hand at killin’ folks ; but likewise I object 
to tacklin’ a lot of lambs, ’cause it’s more like murder 
than square, stand-up fightin’. If we get much of 
this kind of business. I’m goin’ to ask for my discharge 
the next time we make port, an’ that’s the whole of 
it.” 

Then Jethro, whose watch was off duty, turned 
into his hammock like a man thoroughly disgusted 
with the world, and the remainder of the party fol- 
lowed his example. 

Eight and forty hours later we were swinging at 
anchor once more in the harbor of St. Kitts, with the 
lugger astern flying the stars and stripes ; and the 
ground tackle was no more than down when a small 
boat rowed by four men, with two in the stern-sheets, 
came away from the town as if in the greatest haste 
to board us. 

When they arrived alongside, we made out the vis- 


246 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

itors to be the American consul at St. Kitts, and the 
other had the appearance of a seafaring man. 

Mr. Wadsworth received the two at the gangway 
as if they were old friends, and at once led them into 
the cabin, where they stayed half an hour or more 
before going ashore. 

Then it was that through one of the gossip carriers 
— a marine, of course — we heard somewhat of the 
cause for the visit. 

I cannot pretend to give the story as the marine 
told it, because it would require too many words ; but 
in substance it was this : — 

A French frigate lying at Guadaloupe had, regard- 
less of the laws of neutrality, sent a force of men 
ashore and taken as prisoners two officers of the 
American army, who had arrived at that port after 
being shipwrecked off the Florida straits. 

These valiant Frenchmen, very likely similar to such 
as we had run across, not only illegally held our 
countrymen as prisoners, but were threatening to hang 
them in retaliation for an execution ordered by Com- 
modore Talbot, when two French prisoners under 
parole had plotted the murder of the Yankee crew 
who captured them. 

It seems that the seaman accompanying our consul 


AGAIN THE LUGGER 


247 


was the captain of an American merchantman which 
had been captured by the French frigate and ex- 
changed for some frog-eaters who were held at Guada- 
loupe; and he, in order to prevent the murder of the 
Yankees had, at the risk of his life and in the 
absence of an American vessel nearer, come to 
St. Kitts in a small fishing smack with the hope of 
finding some of our ships of war. 

Having heard this story, and knowing that it would 
be useless for the little Enterprise to sail into Guada- 
loupe with the idea of overawing the frigate, our old 
shell-backs were in a fine state of perplexity, all of 
them declaring emphatically that the frog-eaters must 
not be allowed to do such a wrong ; but at the 
same time wholly unable to figure how it might be 
prevented. 


CHAPTER XI 


L’Aigle 

I N the excitement consequent upon the information 
that the Frenchmen at Guadaloupe threatened to 
do that which would be condemned by every other 
civilized nation on the face of the earth, our people 
forgot the prize which had just been taken — forgot 
everything save the fact that two of their countrymen 
were in great danger where none save those belong- 
ing to the Enterprise were in a position to lend any 
aid. 

There was a furious wagging of tongues on the 
gun-deck after we learned of the news brought by 
the two visitors, and the only point upon which all 
agreed was that we of the schooner must make imme- 
diate effort to release the Yankees who otherwise 
were like to lose their lives. 

How it might be done no two were of like mind ; 
but certain it is that never a man grew so rash as to 
propose that the Enterprise attempt to enter the 
harbor of Guadaloupe, where lay the French frigate. 
248 


L’AIGLE 


249 


Now although we had cried out against the frog- 
eaters for cowards, and had taken without a blow 
two prizes who were strong enough to have given us 
a hard struggle, we knew full well there were many 
brave men among the enemy, and it would be rank 
folly to show ourselves where we might be raked by 
the guns of a 74. 

Jaw among themselves as they might, our old shell- 
backs could not hit upon any plan, however rash, which 
seemed to promise success, and every one was sore 
at heart because of such fact. 

We were left at liberty from the time of coming 

t 

to anchor until a full half hour had passed after the 
departure of the visitors, and then the boatswain piped 
all hands on deck. 

“ It’s another case of fillin’ the hold with prisoners 
that must be watched as a cat watches mice, with 
nothin’ in the way of dollars at the end of it,” Joe 
Staples grumbled as he obeyed the order; and I was 
much inclined to echo his words, for the idea of 
using the prison cages again was most repugnant 
to me. 

To our great surprise, we found all the officers on 
the quarter-deck as if for inspection, and Jethro 
whispered in my ear : — 


250 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“ What’s gone wrong now ? The commander looks 
as if he counted on givin’ some of us a smart dressin’ 
down.” 

“ Perhaps he has rigged up a plan to help our 
countrymen who are in Guadaloupe,” I said with a 
laugh, never for an instant dreaming I had hit the 
mark fairly. 

We were yet further mystified when, instead of 
being set about stripping the prize of whatsoever 
might be needed by us, we were allowed to remain 
idly amidships while the crew of the first cutter was 
called away. 

When the boat was in the water Mr. Wadsworth 
went over the rail, rigged out in all his fine toggery, 
and we stood gaping in astonishment, for the oldest 
among us had never before heard of paying a cere- 
monious call to a ship which had just been captured. 

“Well, this beats anything I ever saw or heard 
tell of,” Jethro whispered to me when we saw our 
second lieutenant going over the rail of the Bon Ami. 
“Things have come to a pretty pass if a Yankee 
officer must needs tog himself out to muster a crowd 
of cowardly prisoners. Do you think, lad, that Com- 
mander Shaw /has a screw loose in his head ? ” 

The question seemed very comical to me, and I 


L’AIGLE 


251 


laughed heartily at the idea of such a thing, for of 
a truth, our captain had shown himself to be a hard- 
headed, able sailor; but I could not for the life of 
me make head or tail to these proceedings. 

The Boil Ami laid so near astern we could see 
plainly all that happened on her decks, and it was 
soon apparent that our lieutenant had no intention 
of mustering the prisoners. 

He spoke with the midshipman who was in com- 
mand of the prize, whereupon the latter immediately 
went into the after cabin, coming up a few moments 
later with the French general, captain, and two others 
in uniform whose rank we could not determine. 

Then ensued an immense amount of bowing and 
scraping, after which Mr. Wadsworth appeared to be 
holding a private interview with the gentlemen which 
was not of a very pleasant nature, for the general 
held up his hands again and again as if stricken 
with horror. 

“ I’d give half a month’s wages to know what’s 
goin’ on yonder,” Jethro said, nervously moving 
about as if his curiosity was so great that he could 
not by any possibility remain in one position. “I’ve 
seen many an odd thing in my life, but never one 
equal to this ! ” 


252 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


It appeared to me as if the Frenchmen were pro- 
testing against something which our lieutenant had 
said; and after a few moments spent in talk, Mr. 
Wadsworth straightened himself stiff as any ramrod, 
while he stood gazing at the prisoners. 

Then it looked much as if the general wanted to 
refer the matter to some one on board the Enter- 
prise, for he pointed in our direction several times, 
the lieutenant shaking his head now and then. 

After a time I noted that Commander Shaw and 
our first lieutenant had gone into the cabin, as if to be 
out of sight from those on the deck of the prize. 

Five minutes later, one of the Frenchmen with 
whom Mr. Wadsworth had been talking disappeared, 
coming on deck shortly afterward with an armful of 
valises and travelling cases. 

Then, still talking and gesticulating in the most 
furious manner, the four French officers got into 
the cutter, followed by Mr. Wadsworth, and were 
rowed alongside the Enterprise. 

The marine who was standing guard at the cabin 
companionway reported the fact that a boat was at 
the gangway, and our two officers came on deck as 
if to receive visitors of distinction. 

“Fm blowed if the commander ain’t bent on bein’ 


L’AIGLE 


253 


polite to the frog-eaters!” Jethro exclaimed. “Per- 
haps he wants to thank ’em for not puttin’ us to 
more trouble when the lugger was captured.” 

Whatever the purpose may have been, we forward 
were left in total ignorance half an hour or more, 
after which word was passed for two marines to 
come aft. 

Now it was that every old barnacle opened his eyes 
wide with astonishment, since there was no accounting 
for such a proceeding as this. 

After receiving the officers as guests, it appeared 
very much as if the commander counted on putting 
them under a close guard, something which Joe Staples 
declared was never done on naval vessels. 

“ You’ll find that the men are to be clapped into 
any kind of a hole between decks; but the high an’ 
mighty officers will be allowed liberty after they’ve 
given their parole not to make any break at tryin’ 
to escape,” Joe Staples said with an air of wisdom ; 
and we could do no less than agree he was in 
the right, because of his long experience on board 
vessels of war. 

Now the men fell to wagging their tongues more 
furiously than ever in the effort to solve what was 
to them a deep mystery, and making nothing of the 


254 the cruise of the enterprise 

situation ; but plunged in a yet deeper maze when 
our ofificers came on deck once more, leaving behind 
the Frenchmen and the marines. 

Again Mr. Wadsworth went on board the lugger, 
and shortly afterward we saw her commander and 
several of the passengers moving around the deck 
at will, as if having been paroled. 

“ It’s all too thick for me,” Jethro replied, when I 
urged him to make a guess at the situation. “ There’s 
no question but that the officers and passengers of 
the lugger are on parole, an’ quite as certain that 
them as are in our cabin have stayed there under 
close guard. It knocks anything you ever saw, eh, 
Joe.?” 

“That it does,” Master Staples replied, “an’ you 
can make up your mind there’s somethin’ mighty 
deep afoot, else why haven’t we been set about over- 
haulin’ the lugger’s hold ; she’s likely got ammunition 
which would come in handy for us.” 

Ten minutes later word was given for the star- 
board watch to go aboard the Bon Ami ; and from 
that moment until night had come all hands of us 
were kept on the jump, as if time had suddenly be- 
come so precious that not a moment could be wasted. 

In the midst of all this seeming confusion, when 


L’AIGLE 


255 


we were transshipping this article or that which we 
of the Enterprise might need, the mystery which 
hung over us was increased yet further by Mr. Wads- 
worth, who deliberately went ashore, with the crew of 
the captain’s gig to row him. 

Jethro, Joe Staples, and I had been among those 
detailed to overhaul the goods in the lugger’s hold, 
therefore we had very little idea of what was hap- 
pening above, from the time the second lieutenant 
went on shore until we were called away for supper, 
the day’s work having come to an end. 

Then, to our astonishment, we saw a small craft, 
not unlike a felucca, made fast alongside the Enter- 
prise, 

The riddle was about to be solved. The marines 
who had been on duty aft came forward with such 
information as they had picked up by pulling their 
ears until they were donkey-length ; and when all the 
story had been told, our fellows were aglow with ex- 
citement and admiration of the commander’s ability. 

Mr. Shaw had decided that if the Frenchmen at 
Guadaloupe could play the game of hanging pris- 
oners of war, the Yankees at St. Kitts might take a 
hand in the same sport, and to that end he had 
taken from the lugger the four army officers which 


256 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

we had captured. These were now under close guard 
aft, having been assured by our commander that they 
would be executed immediately after word was brought 
that the American prisoners had been put to death. 

It was a case of reprisals with a vengeance, and 
since the commander of the frigate had declared most 
positively that the Yankees should be hanged, our 
prisoners were anything rather than comfortable in 
mind. 

In order that the authorities at Guadaloupe might 
not remain in ignorance of his purpose, Mr. Shaw 
had hired the felucca, and counted on sending with 
her the French general, who was bound by a parole 
of honor to return in case the execution of the 
Yankees was an accomplished fact, or irrevocably 
determined upon. 

It was only natural that the general would do 
everything within his power to procure the release of 
our countrymen in order to save his own life; and 
thus had Commander Shaw hit upon a plan for the 
saving of our people, which had a better chance for 
success than if we had a couple of frigates, instead 
of the French army officers, at our command. 

If ever a crew was proud of their commander, it 
was ours after we learned all the details of the 


L’AIGLE 


257 


scheme. The men were so excited and joyful as to be 
almost unable to contain themselves within any ordi- 
nary bounds. 

For a time they would discuss the matter eagerly 
among themselves, and then some one would call for 
three cheers in honor of our commander, whereupon 
the old shell-backs would yell until the master-at-arms 
came below with the threat of putting all hands 
under arrest. 

Then for another while all would go on as it 
should, until admiration and excitement caused some 
other fellow to propose three cheers, and we were 
treated to an additional visit from the master-at-arms. 

Considering the fact that the Enterprise had ever 
been spoken of as a ship on which the strictest 
discipline was maintained, it was the wildest scene 
that could well be imagined as taking place on board 
a naval vessel. 

Then, when the uproar had been stilled for a cer- 
tain time, one of the marines came below with the 
information that the felucca was being got under 
way, and up the ladders we rushed to witness the 
departure. 

The general, guarded by a marine, was coming out 
of the cabin just as I gained the deck, and it could 


258 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

readily be seen that he was feeling mighty uncom- 
fortable in mind. 

He halted near where our commander was standing, 
and the two spoke together while one might have 
counted twenty. Then he went over the rail like one 
who goes to his doom, and the little craft was soon 
under full sail. 

It was the opinion of our sea-lawyers that Mr. 
Shaw’s scheme would prove a decided success, pro- 
vided word of his purpose could be carried to Guada- 
loupe before the prisoners had been executed, and 
I prayed that the felucca might have a quick and 
prosperous voyage for the sake of those poor fellows 
whose lives depended upon her timely arrival. 

It was late that night before the men of the Enter- 
prise were able to settle down to rest; but finally, 
one by one dropped off to sleep even in the midst of 
the most noisy argument, until the master-at-arms 
might say with a sigh of relief that his labors had come 
to an end for the time being. 

Next morning we continued overhauling the lugger, 
and taking on board the schooner such of her goods 
as we might need. 

In the meanwhile the French sailors remained pris- 
oners in the cages of their own vessel, while the 


L’AIGLE 


259 


officers and passengers lounged around the deck at 
their own sweet will. In the cabin of the Enterprise 
three officers of the frog-eating army were guarded by 
two marines, and it can hardly be supposed they 
enjoyed themselves to any very great extent, knowing 
as they did that their lives would atone for any Yan- 
kee blood spilled at Guadaloupe. 

All those old shell-backs who fancied they were so 
well posted as to what should be done in this case or 
that, believed the Enterprise would remain at anchor 
until the question as to the hostages had been set- 
tled ; but in this matter, as in many another, they were 
very far from the truth. 

When the Bon Ami had been thoroughly over- 
hauled, and we had covered with paint the scratches 
she had received in the last action, the officers held 
as hostages were sent on board the lugger, with four 
marines to guard them, and the little Enterprise was 
got under way for another cruise. 

Some of the crew believed we were actually going 
to Guadaloupe to make further threats ; but Master 
Jethro said positively in reply to a question of mine : — 

“ You can count it as certain, lad, that Commander 
Shaw knows full well he has done all within his 
power for the poor fellows who are in danger of death. 


26 o the cruise of the enterprise 

I heard Mr. Wadsworth say last night that in the 
town it was reported the famous French privateer, 
UAigle, had been seen off the port, an’ you can count 
it as mighty nigh the truth that we’re goin’ out to 
search for her.” 

“Is she a big vessel.?” I asked, just a trifle dis- 
turbed by the idea that we might soon be hunting 
for game which would prove too strong for us. 

“ It is said that she carries only ten guns an’ a crew 
of eighty men, therefore we’re about equal in size ; 
but her captain is reported to be a wonderfully brave 
man, an’ he must have good fighters under him, for 
small as she is, that brig has done more damage to 
English an’ American shippin’ than all the other 
French cruisers put together. It would be the big- 
gest kind of a feather in our caps if we could take 
her into port.” 

“ It seems to me that we should have waited to 
get some word from Guadaloupe,” I ventured to 
say. 

“ For what reason .? ” 

“In case the commander of the frigate still insists, 
after learning that we’re in a position to make re- 
prisals, on putting his prisoners to death, Mr. Shaw 
ought to know it as soon as possible.” 


L‘a1GLE 


261 

‘‘ He’s already done all a man could, an’ more than 
ninety-nine out of a hundred would have figgered as 
fine. If the scheme don’t work, the poor fellows 
must take their punishment, for we can’t help ’em.” 

“Then the general will come back, if he has any 
regard for his parole.” 

“ Yes, an’ you can make certain the officer in com- 
mand of the lugger will know what to do with him. 
There’s no good reason for our remainin’ idly in port 
two or three weeks, when we couldn’t alter things by 
so much as the breadth of your finger.” 

“And this brig.?” I asked, with a view to changing 
the subject of the conversation. “ Do you believe 
that she amounts to very much more than the other 
vessels we have come across .? ” 

“ I reckon we’ll have our hands full, lad, in case 
we succeed in runnin’ her down. As we know by 
experience, some of the frog-eaters will fight, an’ it 
stands to reason that a brave captain would have 
none but good men under him. We’re likely to have 
our work cut out for us if it so be the privateer 
heaves in sight.” 

I was not exactly frightened by the prospect of 
an engagement ; but at the same time it would have 
been more agreeable if the commander of U Aigle 


262 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


had not succeeded in winning such a name for him- 
self. In fact, I found myself very near to wishing 
that we might not be able to find the brig. 

Well, in order to save words over matters which 
are of no especial interest, I will say that on the 
morning of the third day after leaving port, when 
the E^iterprise was standing on a windward tack, 
we sighted a sail working to leeward ; and that she 
had no idea of trying to give us the slip, was shown 
when she came about almost at the same moment 
we did. 

The stranger and our schooner were now standing 
on opposite tacks which must eventually cross, unless, 
indeed, one or the other changed her course. 

There could be no question but that we had sighted 
a vessel of war, and without being commanded so to do, 
the crew quietly went about making ready for action. 

Half an hour later the lookout reported that the 
stranger was brig-rigged, and evidently armed. 

“We’ve run down our game,” Jethro said to me 
with a chuckle when this last information was bawled 
from the masthead. “There are precious few brig- 
rigged French cruisers in these ’ere parts, an’ you 
can set it down as a certainty that yonder craft is 
the privateer U AigleP 


L’AIGLE 


263 


“ Why might she not be a merchantman ? ” I asked, 
smiling, without intending so to do, at his eagerness. 

“ Because there’s no merchantman afloat that would 
come boldly up to meet a strange vessel, as this fellow 
is doin’. In fact, ’cordin’ to what we’ve seen, but 
precious few French cruisers would take the chances.” 

“ But why can’t she be an Englishman ^ ” I per- 
sisted, and he answered with emphasis : — 

“ She hasn’t the cut of one.” 

The old man was right, as we understood an hour 
later, when the Frenchman hoisted his colors in de- 
flance, and we obliged him with a view of ours. 

“Unless she’s been wrongly described to us, yonder 
is the chap we’re after,” Joe Staples said quietly, and 
then he went to his post, knowing full well we 
would be sent to quarters before many moments had 
passed. 

When we finally got the word, one could see by 
the expression on the faces of our officers that they 
were fully satisfied with the situation, and this fact 
had a most depressing effect on me ; for I realized 
that there was sharp fighting before us. 

We were rapidly nearing the enemy, and that there 
was on both sides a desire to meet in action, was 
shown by the course which each was steering. 


264 the cruise of the enterprise 

The helmsmen were doing their best to bring us 
together as we stood, and there could be no question 
but that this purpose was soon to be effected. 

Our men had been sent to quarters, and we could 
see that the enemy was in the same situation. 

Never before had I witnessed such deliberate prepa- 
rations for an engagement. Heretofore we had chased 
our vessel, knowing that she would avoid an encounter 
if possible ; but now I understood that there was 
no possibility of escaping hostilities, and the cold 
Chills began to run up and down my spine. 

Mr. Shaw came among us, speaking a word here, 
or nodding approbation there, and thus cheering the 
eager men even more than could have been done by 
words. 

Among all the crew I was the only one who did 
not look forward with eager anticipations to the 
conflict, and but for the memory of how Miles Partlett 
had been treated when he showed the white feather, 
I might have been foolish enough to think of seeking 
a hiding-place below the water-line. 

Both vessels were clippers; they approached each 
other like race-horses ; and but for the fear in my heart 
I could thoroughly have enjoyed the marvellous scene 
before me. 


L’AIGLE 


265 


It could now be seen that we would pass the French- 
man to leeward, and Mr. Wadsworth passed the 
word : — 

“Train your guns as soon as may be, lads, for 
we’ll give and take as we pass.” 

There was little need for any such warning; every 
gunner was fingering his piece nervously, squinting 
along its length every now and then to make certain 
it was neither raised too high nor depressed too much. 

Near by stood the gun crews, ready to clap on the 
tackles a second after the engine of death had been 
discharged ; and I, despite my fear, was running fore 
and aft to make certain there was a sufficiency of 
ammunition with which to open the engagement. 

Then came the moment when our broadside could 
be brought to bear, and at the same instant that Mr. 
Wadsworth gave us the word, the enemy’s guns were 
discharged. 

The Enterprise quivered from stem to stern under 
the recoil of her own guns and the blows received 
from the Frenchman’s missiles, until it was as if we 
had struck full upon a reef. 

Two or three minutes after this, and before I was 
recovered from my surprise at the fierceness with 
which the action was begun, I heard our men cheering 


266 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


furiously, and looked around me in bewilderment to 
learn the cause. 

There was nothing on our deck to cause their cries 
of joy, and by gazing through one of the ports, I 
could see UAigle still holding the same course as 
when we fired. 

The men cheered yet more wildly, and I, stupid 
through lack of seamanship, took old Jethro by the 
arm as I asked impatiently : — 

“ What is it. Master Leighton ? What is causing 
this joy?” 

“ Poke your head through yonder hatch, an’ find 
out for yourself, lad.” 

“That’s what I have been doing, sir, and yet I 
do not see anything of importance.” 

“ A lovely kind of a sailor you’ll make, Paul Burton, 
if by looking out you don’t see that our commander 
has put his helm down, and is coming around directly 
in the wake of the brig, the manoeuvre bein’ hidden, 
as you might say, by the smoke from her guns.” 

I did not understand the matter even then, and a 
second later Mr. Wadsworth cried sharply : — 

“ Starboard guns ahoy ! Make ready there, for 
now has come your time ! ” 

It was at last plain to me that the E7iterprise 


L’AIGLE 


267 


had been turned in such a manner that our battery- 
opposite the one which opened the engagement was 
now ready for use, and I ran across the deck, get- 
ting a momentary glimpse of the Frenchman’s stern. 

To-day, knowing considerably more about the hand- 
ling of ships in an engagement, I feel the greatest 
admiration of that commander who fought his schooner 
as I venture to say never such a craft was fought 
before. 

Four of the guns in the starboard battery raked 
the enemy fore and aft. Even as the Enterprise was 
heeling to the breeze, and before the smoke of the 
burning powder shut everything out from view, we 
could see that the brig’s deck bore many a blotch 
and pool of blood shed by our missiles. 

The little Enterprise worked so handily, and could 
be kept so completely under control, that Mr. Shaw 
let her come quite around on the other tack, running 
the brig aboard on the weather quarter. 

Then, for the first time in my brief experience, 
did I hear the command of “ boarders away ! ” dur- 
ing an engagement. 

As a matter of course, when we were being drilled 
in such manoeuvring, a position had been assigned 
me by the side of Jethro Leighton. Therefore when 


268 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


the old man started at full speed to obey, snatching 
from its rack a boarding pike as he ran, I followed 
his example in every particular ; and we two, with 
perhaps a dozen others, were ready to leap over the 
rail just as Joe Staples and his crew had succeeded 
in making fast the grappling irons. 

To our intense surprise, for now did it seem posi- 
tive we would take part in a most bloody engage- 
ment, the brig’s colors were hauled down, and the 
crew retreated backward into the bow of their craft 
step by step, crying meanwhile for quarter. 

Jethro and I had clambered across on to the brig’s 
deck, and involuntarily we halted at this sudden ces- 
sation of hostilities. 

“ It seems that real fightin’ strikes to their stomachs 
mighty quick,” the old man cried, and was begin- 
ning to complain most bitterly at having thus been 
cheated by finding the crew ready to surrender when 
we had counted on their struggling to the last. 

Before he was come well into his tirade, however, 
I saw that on the quarter-deck which caused me to 
pull the old man around until he also could witness 
the shocking spectacle. 

There, as we could understand full well by their 
uniforms, lay the commander and the second lieuten- 


L’AIGLE 


269 


ant so seriously wounded that it seemed to me, at 
the moment, they must be dying, while a short dis- 
tance away was the lifeless body of the first lieutenant. 

With the three commanding officers killed before 
the engagement was well begun, as you might say, 
and, probably, when we wore around under the stern 
in a position to rake, it was little wonder that the 
crew gave up the struggle at once, for they had suf- 
fered most severely, when you take into considera- 
tion the fact that but two broadsides had been fired. 

Looking forward as I stood like a statue, almost 
bewildered by the horrors of the scene, I saw three 
dead sailors, and nine wounded so grievously that 
they lay prone upon the deck, gasping and groaning 
with pain. 

Of a verity, a battle had been won by skilful sea- 
manship rather than fighting; for had our commander 
stood on his course after the first broadside, as did 
the master of U Aigle^ then we might have had a 
day’s work cut out for us, with the question unsettled 
as to who could claim the victory^ 

Jethro had nothing more to say regarding the cow- 
ardice of this particular crew of Frenchmen ; but 
holding up his hand to attract the attention of our 
commander, he cried out : — 


2/0 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“All the officers are dead or wounded, sir. Our 
surgeons should be sent at once.” 

“ Ay, ay,” Commander Shaw cried, in token that 
he understood the direful information, and then I 
heard him giving orders for our surgeons to board 
the prize. 

Afterward, one of the crew who could speak Eng- 
lish, told Master Jethro that at the time we raked 
them they had no idea our schooner was hanging 
astern ; but supposed her to be standing off as was 
theirs. He said that our first broadside had inflicted 
no injury save upon the brig herself ; but when the 
second round of shot came aboard, cutting down fif- 
teen on the instant, the terrific slaughter, as well as 
the surprise, had taken the heart wholly out of the 
men, and little wonder that it should have been so. 

It was necessary now that we throw a prize crew 
on board, send the prisoners below the hatches, and 
cast off the grappling-irons in order that the two ves- 
sels might separate, because, owing to the heavy sea, 
they were pounding each other in a manner well cal- 
culated to send both to the bottom shortly, unless 
speedy steps were taken to prevent i\. 

I, who had not been told off as one of the prize 
crew, returned to the Enterprise just before the ships 


L’AIGLE 


271 


were cut adrift, and there, to my surprise, found that 
three of our people had been wounded by the only 
broadside fired from the brig. 

We had captured the famous cruiser, that vessel 
whose crew had fought her so nobly as to make her 
name almost a terror ; and yet we could not plume 
ourselves overly much upon the victory, because it 
had been brought about by one man’s brains rather 
than force of arms. 


CHAPTER XII 


The Hostages 

I NASMUCH as the Ejiterprise had not been injured 
during this short engagement, there was no neces- 
sity for her to put back to port, so far as refitting 
and repairing was concerned. The little schooner was 
as bright and fresh after the combat with the priva- 
teer who was supposed to be so blood-thirsty, as if 
there had been no exchange of broadsides, and we 
were in proper condition to continue the cruise until 
coming up with that Frenchman who could put us in 
different trim. 

One hour after the action our schooner presented 
much the same appearance as when she had left the 
harbor of St. Kitts, save that in the cockpit lay three 
men, not dangerously, yet quite seriously wounded. 

On board VAigle^ however, the situation was quite 
different. Her cockpit and cabin were well taken up 
by the wounded, and on the grating aft the French 
sailmakers, under orders from Commander Shaw, were 
stitching up the bodies of the lieutenant and three of 


272 


THE HOSTAGES 273 

his men in new hammocks, for it had been decided 
that we were to bury the brave fellows before getting 
under way again. 

There is no good reason why I should make any 
attempt at describing this burial at sea. The ceremony 
is the same wherever you find Christians, except that 
under such circumstances as surrounded us at that 
time, it takes on an added solemnity. During a war 
one commits the dead to the sea in the presence of 
those who have good reason to believe that their own 
shipmates may soon be performing for them the same 
service, and the words uttered by the chaplain sink 
deep into a fellow’s heart. 

We did for those lifeless Frenchmen what we would 
have done for our own comrades, and all the prison- 
ers were allowed to take part in the ceremonies after 
having given their paroles to make no attempt at 
escape. 

Once this was over, and the shrouded forms, each 
weighted with a 6-pound shot lashed to his feet, hav- 
ing been allowed to slide over the gangway with that 
sullen splash which has a different sound, although I 
am not able to explain why, from the plunge made 
by a living being, we clapped on all sail and bore 
away for St. Kitts. 


274 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


Commander Shaw had economized the time which 
would ordinarily have been spent in waiting for the 
return of the hostages, and all hands could say that 
it had not been wasted. 

Now we were returning to learn whether the com- 
mander’s scheme had been sufficient to save the lives 
of our countrymen who had fallen into the hands of 
the enemy. 

We stood off for the port in company, the schooner 
and the brig, and our people were loud in the praises 
of this last prize, as well they might have been. Un- 
til we captured her I had believed there was never a 
trimmer, swifter vessel afloat than the Enterprise ; but 
L Aigle proved herself a fit mate for our little ship, 
and might well have been built on the same model, 
so far as general appearance went. 

It would be reasonable to suppose that because 
of her rig she might slip through the water faster 
than we could, and yet her pace was no greater, 
taking into comparison the amount of canvas which 
could be spread, than ours. 

We held our course within half a mile of each 
other as if yoked together, for the prize crew had 
reduced the brig’s canvas until it was equal to ours; 
and until midnight every man jack of us watched 


THE HOSTAGES 


275 


the two ships carefully, comparing their good quali- 
ties, but without being able to say that one showed 
herself to be a single whit better than the other. 

“You might say they were built in the same yard,” 
Master Jethro cried enthusiastically, when at the end 
of two hours the relative positions of the vessels 
were the same as at the outset. “ They’re as near 
alike as two peas in one pod, an’ how the frog-eaters 
ever happened to turn out such a hull, beats me. I’m 
willin’ to bet a penny’s worth of silver spoons against 
any man’s share of prize money, that it was a Yankee 
who designed yonder little brig, an’ a Yankee who 
helped build her.” 

As a matter of course all this seemed improbable, 
and but the boasting of one who believed that his 
countrymen excel in the fashioning of ships ; yet we 
afterward came to know that Jethro had all uncon- 
sciously hit upon the truth. 

The brig had been built two years before the begin- 
ning of this war which, as I have already said, was 
really no war at all from a legal standpoint, in Boston, 
and sold by her owners to French merchantmen. The 
model upon which she was fashioned had actually 
been used in the construction of the Enterprise, and 
the result was that, in everything save the rig, the 


276 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

two vessels were identical ; therefore it is little wonder 
that when each carried the same amount of canvas, 
they should sail side by side without either gaining 
half a cable’s length the advantage. 

When we cast anchor again in the harbor of St. 
Kitts, the people there must have begun to believe 
that we came near being a crack crew, for it was now 
only the middle of June, and in addition to recaptur- 
ing three American prizes, the Enterprise had taken 
five French privateers. 

Already were the men reckoning up roughly what 
amount of prize money would be divided among the 
crew; and if even the most modest estimate was cor- 
rect, then would my share amount to far more than 
I could have earned ashore in any mechanical pursuit 
during three or four years. 

I was beginning to understand full well how it was 
that one could be thoroughly infatuated with such a 
life; for already did I look forward to the time spent 
in port as just so many days wasted, and an old 
privateersman could not have been more eager to be 
in pursuit of the enemy. 

There was one thing, however, over which the old 
shell-backs wagged their tongues furiously, and that 
was the rapid shrinkage of our working force. 


THE HOSTAGES 


277 

Because of the crews sent on board the prizes, we 
had but sixty-three men left, and large as was this 
number compared with the size of the schooner, it 
would be all too small in case we overhauled a 10- 
or 20-gun vessel. The Enterprise had left port 
with eighty-one souls on board, and this was con- 
sidered for purposes of warfare to be the smallest force 
consistent with the proper handling and fighting of 
the schooner. 

Jethro and Joe Staples, who because of their age 
and experience were looked upon as authorities in 
such matters, declared that the time had come when 
we must of a necessity recruit more men, and how 
that might be done was the subject of conversation 
among all hands during such time as we were running 
back to St. Kitts. 

It even presented itself to us as being of more 
importance than the fate of our countrymen who were 
held under sentence of death at Guadaloupe, for in 
case we came upon a ship equal in size and weight 
of metal to our own, there would be many more lives 
sacrificed because of our weakness, than if the com- 
mander of the frigate carried out the inhuman threats 
he had made. 

On arriving in the harbor of St. Kitts we anchored 


2/8 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

inside the lugger, and U Aigle was sent yet nearer the 
town. 

Our men on board the Bon Ami cheered us heartily, 
as well they might, when we came in after so short 
an absence with such a fine prize; and among those 
on the quarter-deck I fancied it was possible to recog- 
nize the general who had been sent to negotiate the 
release of our countrymen. 

Nor was I mistaken as to this; for as soon as our 
anchors were let go, a boat put off from the lugger, 
in which was the French officer and two strangers 
who had the look to me of Yankees. 

To make a dull story short, it is only necessary 
to say we learned by means of the long-eared marines 
that the Frenchman in command of the frigate had 
been frightened by our threat of reprisals, and 
promptly released his Yankee prisoners on the strength 
of the general’s assurance that Mr. Shaw would send 
the army officers, which we held, back with him in 
the felucca. 

Because of such surrender our commander imme- 
diately set at liberty the men whom he held as hos- 
tages, and Mr. Wadsworth escorted them on shore 
with due ceremony amid the cheers of all the Yankee 
sailors in the harbor. 


THE HOSTAGES 


279 


By this stroke of business we had not only saved 
the lives of the poor fellows who were to have been 
murdered in cold blood, but added two to our crew, 
since those who had been saved could do no less 
than ship on board the Enterprise during the remainder 
of the cruise. 

By way of celebrating this happy event, and also 
that our people might have a little jollification over 
the capture of the redoubtable privateer, we of the 
Enterprise were given a day’s liberty, which was 
spent by visiting the prize crews, pulling to and fro 
from one vessel to the other with an immense amount 
of noise. On each craft we wagged our tongues in 
great style, glorifying Yankee sailors and the Yankee 
land which was so signally proving itself worthy a 
place among the nations of the world. 

A rare time I had of it, for the men treated me 
as if my age and experience equalled their own. I 
was, for the time being, a shipmate in fact, and as 
can well be fancied, puffed up not a little thereby. 

Amid all the pleasures of the day I could not 
prevent my thoughts from going out again and again 
to Miles Bartlett, who, a prisoner, heavily ironed and 
closely guarded, was approaching each day nearer 
to his native land, where he would be brought before 


28 o 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


the courts of law on that most disgraceful of all 
charges — save it be murder itself — treachery. 

I pictured him even while exclamations of joy and 
congratulations were being bandied from one to an- 
other, I taking my full share therein, and contrasted 
his position with my own until my heart grew heavy 
as lead. If the poor lad could have but held himself 
steady at his post, having a greater fear of showing 
the white feather than of being wounded, then might 
he have stood by my side that day sharing in the 
festivities. 

It was a single cowardly step which had brought 
all this disgrace upon him, for unless he had given 
way the first time, everything might have been well ; 
and I realized, if never before, that he who resists at 
the outset, whatsoever temptation is before him, stands 
firm thereafter, for there must be a beginning of evil 
ways, else does one always walk in the true path. 

It was on the day after this one when we Yankees 
swaggered to and fro in the harbor of St. Kitts, 
celebrating our own achievements, that we came to 
know how Mr. Shaw proposed to strengthen his 
crew. 

Early in the morning Joe Staples and Jethro Leigh- 
ton were called aft for an interview with the com- 








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THE HOSTAGES 


281 

mander, and when they came forward again with many 
a swagger of pride, I was the first to learn of the 
programme which had been arranged. 

When they entered the cabin, Mr. Shaw began the 
interview by explaining what the two old shell-backs 
already knew, that our crew was so weakened in num- 
bers it had become necessary to find recruits ; therefore 
he proposed that Jethro and Joe Staples should take 
with them four or five men, and spend the day ashore 
in the effort to induce such sailormen as they came 
across to enlist for the remainder of the cruise. 

An English commander would have sent out a 
press-gang regardless of the laws of neutrality, and 
taken by force such men as he needed ; for already 
had the Britishers practised these high-handed pro- 
ceedings in the United States; but we Yankees, who 
counted on setting an example to the other nations 
of the world — and in which we finally succeeded in 
proper fashion — went about the task in a legal, 
manly manner. 

To my great delight Master Jethro announced that 
I was detailed as one of the party, and half an hour 
later, eight of us set off in the schooner’s long-boat 
for what was neither more nor less, however earnest 
the purpose, than a day’s pleasuring. 


282 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


I would it were possible for me to describe here 
all which we saw during this holiday. 

St. Kitts, or St. Christopher as it is sometimes 
called, is one of the Leeward Islands in the West 
Indies. It is only twenty-three miles long ; its great- 
est breadth being five miles, and the total area only 
sixty-eight square miles. Made up almost entirely of 
a mountain range which runs southeast and north- 
west, the natural scenery is entrancing, particularly 
to men like us of the E7iterprise, who had been at 
sea so long. 

The capital of the island, at the head of the harbor, 
is known as Basseterre, and this is the town in 
which we spent the day searching for recruits. 

Because of the fact that Spanish is the language 
spoken, Jethro, in making up the party, had selected 
one among the number who was familiar with that 
tongue ; and this man, acting as interpreter, led the 
way through those quarters where seamen were 
known to congregate, making the acquaintance of 
any who had the appearance of possessing such 
qualities as we desired in members of our crew. 

It seemed to me as if the greater portion of the 
population were negroes ; certainly seven out of 
every ten sailors we met were black men, and in 


THE HOSTAGES 283 

trying to gain recruits we made no distinction as to 
the color of the skin. 

Before nightfall we had enlisted fourteen men, 
sending the first lot aboard the Enterprise shortly 
after noon. 

Next day a fresh party was detailed for service, 
still under charge of Jethro and Staples; but this 
time I remained on board the schooner. 

Before sunset we had in round numbers eighteen 
new recruits, thirteen of whom were black, and 
counting the two Yankees released from Guadaloupe, 
had made up the full complement required to work 
the schooner in proper shape, — that is to say, 
eighty-three. 

Instead of transshipping the prisoners from the 
last prize to our own vessel, we sent the able-bodied 
members of U Aigle's crew on board the lugger, while 
the wounded were carried ashore. 

Next morning the Bon Ami and the Enterprise got 
under way, the former bound for some port in the 
United States, while the latter was to continue her 
cruise, all hands hoping, and with good reason, that 
we might fall in with yet more Frenchmen who 
could be converted into prizes. 

Wondering where our next cruising ground would 


284 the cruise of the enterprise 

be, I asked Master Jethro’s opinion on the subject, 
and he promptly announced that Commander Shaw 
would not be so foolish as to go far afoot when we 
had been so fortunate among the Leeward Islands. 

“ You may count it as a fact, lad, that until something 
different happens, we’ll make St. Kitts our rendezvous, 
for the Frenchmen seem inclined to hang out round 
there.” 

“ Do you believe that the colored men we have 
taken on board will do their full duty ? ” I asked, 
for it was a matter which had troubled me not a 
little, and Jethro settled the question to his own 
satisfaction by' saying decidedly : — 

“I allow, lad, that they won’t come up to the 
Yankees, an’ you might search the world over without 
findin’ the equal of us from the United States, even 
if I do say it. When a young nation like ours can 
stand against English an’ French ships of war, an’ 
capture or destroy four crafts while losin’ one, it’s a 
proven fact that we have in us what you might call 
sailorly qualities such as are lackin’ in others. Now 
about these ’ere negroes : I allow that they’ll do good 
service as them kind of people go ; but don’t count 
on seein’ anything very wonderful from ’em, ’cause it 
ain’t in their nature, as you might say. Besides, you 




THE HOSTAGES 285 

can’t expect a foreigner to fight for another country 
as well as them who were born there. Don’t worry 
your head over what the colored chaps will do, for 
if we find they’re not standin’ up like men ought’er, 
there’s enough of us left to put ’em on the right 
track, or send ’em ashore when next we make port. 
They’ll do the putterin’ jobs, which will save the 
time of our people, an’ I reckon sixty-three of us 
from Boston an’ Salem can hold their own against 
as many Frenchmen as we’ll find hereabouts, unless 
it should so happen the Enterpnse runs afoul of some 
frigate like the one at Guadaloupe, which is an 
accident that ain’t likely to occur while we’ve got 
sich a commander as Mr. Shaw.” 

And now am I come to the most glorious portion 
of my story, for it was on this cruise, when we set 
out in company with the Bon Ami, running her 
hull down before sunset, that the little Enterprise per- 
formed that feat which has ever since been spoken of 
as “one of the handsomest exploits of the war.” 

If there is one thing more than another which 
approaches folly, it is that of boasting about one’s 
own achievements ; but such a folly I claim cannot 
be set down to my credit, even when I trumpet the 
praises of the Enterprise the loudest. 


286 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


That I was on board and numbering as one of 
the crew when such work as I am about to describe 
was accomplished, does not go to say that I claim 
personal credit for anything which was done. It is 
simply my part to set down what our schooner 
accomplished in the way of striking a blow against 
the French maritime power, and I shall hold to the 
last that never a vessel of our size, with the same 
number of men we carried, did such valiant work as 
that same schooner which put to sea from Salem. 

Bear in mind that ours was a schooner of but an 
hundred and sixty-five tons, carrying only twelve 
light guns, and manned at the most by eighty-three 
men. In addition to this, remember that we were 
cruising outside the limits of our own country, put- 
ting into so-called neutral ports where, with the pos- 
sible exception of St. Kitts, almost every man’s hand 
was against us. We had no depot of supplies; no 
docks of our own in which to refit ; no squadron 
near by to aid in a time of dire necessity; but were 
forced to depend entirely upon our own exertions, 
and from the capture of the first prize until that of 
the last in the war, we never made a home port. 

This much, as I have just set down, seems neces- 
sary in order to properly “ blow the horn ” of those 


THE HOSTAGES 


287 


brave fellows who performed such a large share in 
the work of convincing the French government, that 
the Yankees as a nation are not to be put upon with 
impunity by any people whatsoever. 

And just one word more, after which I am done 
with what may seem like boasting, although in reality 
it is only the plajn facts set down in poor words. 

Officers of the navy, and shipmasters generally, 
who must be considered the best judges in such 
matters, have given again and again to our little 
schooner Enterprise the credit of having done more 
toward teaching the frog-eaters that lesson which 
they needed than any frigate in the service ; and 
having stated this, I am saying no more than the 
gallant craft and brave men deserve. 

Now to hark back to the time when we left port 
in company with our prize, the three-masted lugger, 
who stood by us only a few hours, after which she 
was put on a course that finally brought her safely 
into Boston harbor. 

It was the evening of the second day out from St. 
Kitts, while we were cruising to leeward, when the 
lookout reported what appeared to be a brig, hull 
down, and about two points off our port bow. 

As nearly as could be made out, the stranger was 


288 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERTRISE 


twice our size, and it was not reasonable to suppose 
that so large a merchantman would be found in that 
vicinity. 

The wind was light ; but yet we might have clawed 
off had our commander been so disposed, although 
I reckon the crew would have been stricken dumb 
with amazement had they heard the order given 
which would prove that for the first time the Enter- 
prise was about to run away from the enemy. 

None of us on the gun-deck, however, believed 
that Mr. Shaw had any intention of drawing off, 
even though the stranger was evidently very much 
heavier than the Enterprise. 

“Unless she turns out to be a frigate, which don’t 
seem any ways possible. I’m allowin’ we’ll stand up 
to her when mornin’ comes,” Jethro Leighton said 
to me as if believing I needed encouragement, which 
was absolutely true, although not of the kind he was 
ready to give. 

Thus far we had come across vessels smaller, or, 
at least, no larger than ours, and if yonder stranger 
was twice as big, then it seemed to me a case where 
discretion was the better part of valor. 

“We’ll tackle her!” Joe Staples cried exultantly. 
“Never mind how big she is, we’ll tackle her; an’ if 


THE HOSTAGES 289 

it SO be they get the best of us, this 'ere schooner has 
paid for herself two or three times over.” 

“ But there’s no sense in taking too many chances,” 
I replied quite sharply. “ It is no reason, simply 
because we have done well, that we should literally 
throw the schooner away.” 

“That’s not what we’re countin’ on doin’, lad,” 
Jethro Leighton said quickly, and with such a look 
that I knew beyond a peradventure he was asking 
himself if I was growing timorous to the verge of 
cowardice. “ Yonder stranger has made us out by 
this time, an’ in case she’s an armed vessel, we’ll have 
no trouble in layin’ by her till mornin’ ; but if she’s 
a merchantman, we’ll soon see ’em clawin’ off.” 

This last proposition afforded me some little hope, 
and again and again I went to the masthead in order 
to inquire of the lookout if the stranger gave any 
signs of wanting to avoid us. 

At the last visit the man dashed all my hopes by 
saying: “You can set it down as a fact, lad, that 
she’s armed, an’ lookin’ for jest sich a prize as we’d 
make, — allowin’ that the Enterprise was to be whipped, 
which she ain’t. Take a squint over there, an’ you’ll 
see she’s holdin’ the wind while we’re losin’ it, so if 
it was in her mind to go away from us, now would be 


u 


2gO THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

the time to do it ; but, instead, she’s crawlin’ this way 
mighty fast.” 

“And we’re doing our best to get at her,” I added, 
forcing a cackle which I counted would sound some- 
what like a laugh, as if there was no fear in my heart. 

“Ay, lad, we’re doin’ that same thing; an’ what 
else would you have ? The Enterprise is out for 
Frenchmen, an’ ready to take ’em whenever they 
show themselves.” 

“ Oh, it’s all right,” I replied in what I intended 
should be a careless tone. “ I was only anxious to 
know if she seemed disposed to give us a chance.” 

“There’s no question about it, lad. Yonder brig 
is as willin’ to come to close quarters as is our 
schooner, an’ we’ll soon be runnin’ into St. Kitts with 
her astern, carryin’ the stars an’ stripes above the 
tricolor.” " 

This was by no means the information I most 
desired ; but such as it was I forced myself to appear 
contented, and went down to make report. 

Joe Staples and Jethro Leighton were highly 
elated by the word I brought, and seemingly gave 
no thought to the fact that the stranger was much 
larger, and consequently much heavier, than the 
schooner. 


THE HOSTAGES 


291 


“ If it SO be she don’t change her mind, we’ll have 
another fling at the Frenchmen, an’ perhaps it’ll be 
our luck to meet with such as can hold their own a 
little longer than them we’ve already come across,” 
Jethro said. “You know, lad. I’m countin’ on your 
bein’ in a fair way for a midshipman’s commission 
before we strike Salem again, an’ it’s only by tack- 
lin’ the ships who ought’er be able to swallow us, 
that you’ll have earned it. Now it seems to me as 
if this might be your chance.” 

“Why don’t you talk about a commission for your- 
self, Jethro You are the one who deserves pro- 
motion.” 

“ That may be,” the old shell-back said with a 
laugh ; “ but men of my age, an’ ignorant as I am of 
school learnin’, don’t get ahead very fast whatever 
they’re at. An officer aboard a government vessel 
needs to be pretty much of a scholar, else how’s he 
goin’ to work his ship, or keep his accounts ? Now. 
Joe Staples an’ 'I can count the knots on a log-line, 
an’ when that’s done, we’re through. Bein’ too old 
to lay up any knowledge, we’re certain to stay jest 
where we are, an’ younger chaps, who have paid 
attention to their studies, will jump over our heads.” 

“The only satisfaction we can get out of it,” Joe 


292 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


Staples added, “ is to have somebody we’ve brought up 
by hand, so to speak, gettin’ the honors; for then we 
can pick out a little second-handed praise. Jethro an’ 
I have decided that you’re the one to do us credit, 
an’ as he says, this may be the chance.” 

It was foolish talk such as old sailors seem prone 
to make, and yet at the same time it heartened me 
wonderfully, — this knowledge that two of the best 
men on board were looking to me with the idea that 
by some act of mine they might be benefited in mind, 
if not in position. In case I should be promoted, 
they would take the praise to themselves as the 
result of their individual efforts ; and on the other 
hand, let me show the white feather, and theirs 
would be the grief. 

Therefore it was I promised myself, as I had done 
many times before, that however great the fear 
which assailed me, or however imminent the danger 
by which I might be confronted, there should be no 
sign of timorousness on my part apparent to those 
who stood my true friends. 


CHAPTER XIII 


Le Flambeau 



GAIN have I allowed myself to set down far too 


jr\ much concerning my own affairs, when it was 
only of the work performed by the Enterprise that 
I counted on telling. 

It may readily be supposed that every member of 
the crew who was not otherwise engaged, took it 
upon himself to give some sage opinion regarding 
the stranger, and what she might possibly do when 
the morning came. 

Not a few argued that as yet she had not sighted 
the Enterprise, therefore the fact of her standing 
toward us was really no proof as to whether she was 
an armed vessel or a merchantman, while the major- 
ity of our people, in replying to this proposition, 
declared that if she failed to keep a sharp lookout, 
it was good proof she was afraid of nothing which 
might be come across hereabout, whereas a trader 
would have had his eyes open wide all the time. 

As a matter of course the officers knew nothing 


293 


294 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


of the hot discussion which was continued on the 
gun-deck ; but our commander gave emphatic token 
of his intentions when he ordered the helmsman to 
keep the little craft looking toward the stranger all 
the time, while Mr. Wadsworth had instructions to 
take advantage of every catspaw of a breeze that 
might favor us. 

The pick of our crew were kept on deck during 
the entire night, and never once was the brig lost to 
sight. 

When morning came, however, the Enterprise was 
becalmed, and there was not moving air enough to 
raise the tiny vane at her masthead ; but far away, 
where the spars of the stranger could be seen, the 
wind was apparently blowing half a gale. 

It was odd to see one vessel lying idly on the 
glassy waters with not so much as a rope-yarn fly- 
ing, and five or six miles away another ship scud- 
ding along with wind enough to make her spars 
buckle, yet Master Jethro declared he had witnessed 
the same sight times without number. 

“ She’s within range, so that Mr. Shaw won’t have 
any trouble about manoeuvrin’.” 

“ To judge from the canvas she’s carrying, one 
would say that her people were eager to come up 


LE FLAMBEAU 


295 


with us,” I suggested, my voice trembling slightly as 
I realized that within a very short time all hands of 
us might stand face to face with death while trying 
to deprive others of life. 

“I reckon that’s about the size of it,” Joe Staples 
said with a chuckle of satisfaction. “ They’re countin’ 
on our bein’ a small Yankee trader who can be 
picked up without very much bother, an’ it would be 
worth a good bit to see the frog-eaters when they 
find out that we’ve got both teeth an’ claws.” 

The crew, without a single exception, behaved as 
if overjoyed at the prospect before them, and there 
was no apparent decrease in the general satisfaction 
when, as the stranger drew nearer, it was learned 
that she was fully twice as large as the Enter- 
prise. 

Finally, it was possible for us to make out the 
number of guns she carried, and we were somewhat 
surprised at finding that she was pierced for 12’s 
only; but, as Jethro suggested, they were probably 
considerably heavier than ours. 

On she came with a bone in her teeth until not 
more than a mile and a half distant, when the vane 
at our masthead began to lift; the smooth water was 
drawn into thousands of wrinkles by the harbingers 


296 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

of the coming breeze, and all hands looked eagerly 
into the approaching wind. 

Every rag of canvas that could be set was hoisted, 
ready for the moment when there should be sufficient 
movement in the air to fill them, and our people gave 
vent to exclamations of delight as the sails began to 
distend. 

The little schooner straightened herself out as if 
eager to be showing what it was possible for her to 
do, and in a few seconds she had steerageway. 

It seemed as if no more than thirty seconds elapsed 
from the moment we felt the first breath of wind, 
before the Enterprise was heading to cross the 
stranger’s bow, and heeling over to the weight of 
the breeze till her copper glistened like gold under 
the rays of the morning sun. 

I forgot my nervous forebodings in the mirth 
excited by the movements of the brig when she saw 
that we were right eager to come up with her. It 
seemed almost as if she stood still an instant to get 
a better view of us, and then off she started on the 
other tack, running up her studding sails with fever- 
ish haste. 

“ Another Frenchman afraid of his own shadder ! ” 
Jethro cried sorrowfully, as the brig showed us her 


LE FLAMBEAU 


297 


Stern. “ I allowed we’d picked up all the cowards 
that were left in these ’ere parts, an’ was overhaulin’ 
them who had some backbone.” 

Hold on a minute,” Joe Staples cried, as he leaned 
out of a port that he might get a better view of the 
enemy. “ I ain’t willin’ to take my ’davy that she’s 
really runnin’ away.” 

“Ain’t runnin’ away!” Jethro cried scornfully. 
“ What do you call that kind of manoeuvrin’ ? ” 

“She’s standin’ off to get a good look at us.” 

“Tell that to the marines, not to sailormen what 
know when a craft is doin’ her best to get out of the 
way. Why don’t she show her colors, if she’s willin’ 
to give us half a chance ? When a brig of three hun- 
dred tons or more comes across a toy schooner like 
this ’ere vessel, I don’t allow there’s any great call to 
get a good look at her.” 

“ Most likely she’s heard of what we’ve been doin’ 
hereabout, an’ kind er wants to get a general idee of 
our build. We’ll have a chance before nightfall to 
taste the quality of her gunners, or I’m a Dutchman, 
which I ain’t.” 

It certainly did appear to me as if the brig was 
trying to give us the slip ; but an old sailorman like 
Joe Staples should have had a better idea of the 


298 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

manoeuvring than a greenhorn like myself, and I 
took his opinion in preference to Jethro’s, for by this 
time the latter was too angry to be quite himself. 

Ten minutes later the Frenchman ran up his colors, 
and we gave him a sight of our own, after which we 
were treated to as pretty a bit of seamanship as I 
ever saw in my life. 

It was evidently the intention of the enemy to learn 
whether he could run away from us at will, in case 
he did not succeed in getting the best of the schooner 
at the outset ; for French sailors are mighty careful 
about taking any chances. 

The brig’s captain evidently believed his vessel was 
faster on than off the wind, therefore he gradually 
hauled up and boarded his starboard tacks without 
waiting to haul down his studdingsails, which last was 
not done until his vessel was close by the wind. 

The suddenness of this manoeuvre, and the previous 
position of the two ships, brought the E^iterprise right 
astern, when she hauled up in the wake of the enemy. 

In this manner was the chase continued, and a few 
moments later it became clear to all that our schooner 
could overhaul the brig in short order. 

“ We’ll have them under our guns within half an 
hour, whether they like it or not!” Jethro cried 


LE FLAMBEAU 


299 


triumphantly; and again Joe Staples insisted that the 
brig was willing enough to measure strength with 
us, but had only hauled up in order to gain an 
advantage. 

Although all hands knew that an action in which 
the odds would be against us was close at hand, 
those old shell-backs set about arguing, each stoutly 
maintaining his own opinion, and the greater number 
of the crew took one side or the other, until the 
gun-deck hummed as if a thousand swarms of bees 
had suddenly taken possession of it. 

While they jawed and wrangled we overhauled the 
chase, until the marines were ordered forward ; for 
by this time we were within musket-shot of the brig 
Commander Shaw counted on capturing. 

The Frenchman opened the engagement with a 
smart volley of musketry, since it was not possible 
to use his big guns ; and it was comical to see our 
old fellows scuttling away, each to his post, without 
waiting to decide who had the best of the argu- 
ment. 

Our marines returned the fire promptly, and it was 
an odd sensation to find an action at sea opened by 
small arms, while the gunners remained idle, unable 
to bring a single piece to bear on the enemy. 


300 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


We picked off two helmsmen during this portion 
of the affair, while it was well-nigh impossible for 
the frog-eaters to see a target, because our people 
were sheltered in a certain fashion by the schooner’s 
bow ; but this kind of work was not to Mr. Shaw’s 
liking, although had it continued sufficiently long 
we could have reduced their force very cleverly. 

Within ten minutes after the firing began we were 
so close aboard the brig that our jib-boom was directly 
over her taffrail, the schooner standing directly in her 
wake, when the order was given by the commander 
for us to keep off that we might draw more on the 
enemy’s beam. 

While doing so we necessarily exposed ourselves 
to a broadside from the Frenchman, who took prompt 
advantage of the opportunity, with the result that 
two of our men were killed outright, while another 
was put out of the battle with a shattered leg. 

“ What about their fightin’ now ? ” Joe Staples asked, 
when we had let fly a broadside within pistol-shot 
distance, for he was not disposed to cease his argument 
even during the heat of battle. 

“ I’ll tell you better in an hour’s time, for she 
should be able to hold us off that long,” Jethro 
replied grimly, and then there was no further oppor- 


LE FLAMBEAU 


301 


tunity for jawing, because we were in the midst of as 
hot an engagement as I had ever seen. 

Fancy two vessels firing six guns at a time within 
such short range, and you may have some idea of 
the deafening and constant roar. Add to that the 
splintering of wood, the groans of the dying, which 
we could hear from the enemy as well as among 
ourselves ; the shrieks of the wounded, mingled with 
sharp cries of command or the slatting of blocks and 
sheets, and some faint conception may be had of that 
severe engagement wherein men were falling like 
over-ripe apples during a high wind. 

That I was frightened goes without saying. It 
was almost possible to feel the flame of our adver- 
sary’s guns, and there was no place on board where 
one might count himself safe. 

My heart was cowardly in the extreme ; but I 
forced myself to the realization that a fellow would 
be in no more danger in one place than another, and 
staggered here or there as duty demanded, expecting 
each instant I would be struck by a flying splinter or 
solid shot. 

The most murderous missile sent on board of us, 
although by no means the worst so far as the schooner 
was concerned, came in on the port quarter and 


302 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


ploughed its way directly across the cockpit, killing 
two poor wretches who were under the knives of 
the surgeons. 

It seemed to me as if we had been engaged in this 
carnage half a lifetime, when a shout from our people 
told that the brig had got a full dose and was trying 
to claw off. 

He attempted to escape by hauling close by the 
wind, making sail and tacking, and as he did so the 
Enterprise was brought around in pursuit ; but a groan 
went up from our old shell-backs when, for the first 
time since she was launched, the little schooner missed 
stays. 

Every one was craning his neck to see how the 
commander would get out of the scrape which was 
like to cost us considerable ground ; but in Mr. Shaw 
we had an officer who was not liable to be rattled by 
any small matter. 

As calmly and quietly as if sailing into some 
friendly harbor, our commander ordered the sails 
trimmed anew, and stood patiently waiting until the 
Enterprise had gained sufficient way, when he put 
her around on the same tack with the enemy. 

Twenty men or more had left their stations to see 
what might be the result of the mishap, having done 


LE FLAMBEAU 


303 


SO because of their intense desire to capture the 
brig, and not with any idea of acting mutinously or 
disobediently. 

The officers understood this full well, for instead 
of flinging sharp reprimands or threats at our heads, 
the word was quietly given for all hands to go to 
quarters again, and we knew that in a few moments 
more, so much superior was the schooner to the brig 
in point of sailing, we should be in the thick of it 
again. 

The brief time at our disposal was employed in 
clearing the deck from the raffle with which it was 
covered, strewing fresh sand on those places where 
the life blood of our brave fellows was standing 
almost in pools, and swabbing the heated guns. 

We had no more than made ready for a renewal 
of the conflict, each man working to the utmost of 
his strength and speed, when the Enterprise was 
within range once more. 

That the brig’s fore-topmast had been wounded 
we knew full well, because of seeing a dozen men 
aloft trying to secure the spar ; and it was with the 
hope of dismasting her that our gunners aimed a 
trifle higher than before. 

The smoke of the guns had not yet cleared when. 


304 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


without warning, we were struck by a heavy squall, 
and in the twinkling of an eye the enemy’s fore- 
topmast was carried away with the men still upon it. 

We had a good seaman on board our vessel in the 
shape of Mr. Shaw ; but the commander of the brig 
must have been very nearly his equal, as was shown 
when he put up his helm in order to run away from 
the wreckage, leaving it directly in our course. 

It was necessary we allow the schooner to fall off, 
else had we been hampered by the raffle to such an 
extent that perhaps an hour might have been spent 
before we could clear the schooner from the network 
of spar and cordage. 

Again it was that Mr. Shaw showed his superior 
seamanship as well as his humanity. 

He knew full well that we might lay by half an 
hour and yet come up with the chase again, there- 
fore the Enterprise was rounded to, the crew of the 
long-boat called away, and we ceased fighting in 
order to save the lives of those Frenchmen who had 
been carried overboard with the spar. 

I am of the belief, and now at this late day Jethro 
Leighton admits it is possible I may be in the right, 
that our commander’s coolness in stopping to save 
life when we had been so eager to take it, did more 


LE FLAMBEAU 305 

toward proving to the frog-eaters our confidence in 
the outcome of the struggle than anything else could 
have done, and they actually dared not contend very 
much longer against those who were ready to per- 
form such humane deeds. 

However that may be, we saved the Frenchmen 
to make prisoners of them ; and immediately our 
boat had been hoisted inboard, the schooner filled 
away, ranging up once more to the beam of the 
brig. 

This short respite from the sharp fighting had 
only served to give me a better idea of the danger 
which threatened ; and when, seemingly, we were about 
to renew the action, I covered my eyes with my arm, 
— perhaps the most foolish thing a timorous lad could 
do, for one fears less the danger which can be seen 
than that which he imagines. 

I was not allowed to remain ignorant of what was 
going on, however, for even while I stood waiting to 
hear another broadside from one vessel or the other, 
our crew began to shout like madmen, and looking 
up, I saw the French colors fluttering down from 
the masthead in token that the brig was our prize. 

Without going into all the details of that which 
happened immediately after the enemy struck, I will 


X 


306 the cruise of the enterprise 

say that we had taken a vessel decidedly our supe- 
rior in force, and a cruiser of yet greater renown 
than VAigle. 

She was Le Fla}nbeau^ carrying twelve French 9’s, 
and one hundred and ten men. 

We had more reason to be proud than ever before ; 
and as events proved later, our government recog- 
nized fully the importance of the work done that 
day. 

It cannot be said, let Jethro Leighton cry out all 
he pleases against the courage of the French, that 
the crew of the brig had shown themselves cowardly. 
Fear had no part or parcel in this victory of ours ; 
Le Flambeau had struck simply because she was beaten, 
and those on board who were yet able bodied, under- 
stood this fact quite as well as did we when we learned 
the result of the engagement. 

Twenty-two corpses were brought to the upper 
deck by us when we were making the prize ready 
for the voyage to ‘St. Kitts. Twenty-two corpses 
and eighteen wounded men ! A total of forty out 
of an hundred and ten ! 

Surely that was sufficient proof that we whipped 
the enemy handsomely, and owed no portion of our 
victory to their timorousness. 


LE FLAMBEAU 


307 


Whether it was that the French were poor marks- 
men, I cannot say ; but our advantage in the combat 
had been at no single time greater than theirs, and 
yet we had but five killed and five wounded, while 
according to their own statements, they had poured 
into us a greater number of shot than we had into 
them. 

A landsman would have said that the prize was 
virtually wrecked, because of the loss of her top 
hamper ; but this was as nothing compared with the 
damage done her hull. 

She had been struck ’twixt wind and water nine 
times, and if that squall which carried away the spar 
had been the forerunner of a gale, she must have 
foundered before we could put her in trim. 

The Enterprise suffered but little in comparison 
with the enemy. As a matter of course her rigging 
was cut again and again ; but the hull had received 
only two severe wounds, although the port rail was 
splintered for a length of twenty feet, and these 
splinters it was which struck six out of our ten killed 
or disabled men. 

We were forced to heave both vessels to, and remain 
there until the following morning before it was safe 
to get under way again, and during that time twenty 


3o8 the cruise of the enterprise 

or more of the French prisoners aided us in the 
arduous labor, having volunteered so to do. 

This struck me as odd, that men could fight des- 
perately one moment and be apparently friendly the 
next, for the frog-eaters who labored with our crew 
grinned and chattered as if in the highest spirits, 
although their lingo was not understood save by few. 

When, the task having been performed, we were 
shaping a course for St. Kitts once more, I put it 
plainly to Master Jethro, asking him to tell me how 
it could be possible that people who had striven des- 
perately to kill each other, could, with the simple 
falling of a flag, act in a friendly fashion. 

“ It’s a way these ’ere frog-eaters have,” the old 
man replied sagely. “Them as can fight are reg’lar 
cats at it, an’ never give up till the last gun is fired. 
What’s more, they enjoy cornin’ across others who’ll 
stand up to ’em, even as much as do the Yankees. 
Then, when they’re through blood-lettin’, it’s a case 
of , wantin’ to make friends all ’round. Why, I’ve 
seen two of ’em stand up for a five-round fight, say, 
an’ kiss each other between whiles. They’re queer 
cattle, Paul, queer cattle. I’ve got a fairly friendly 
feelin’ for decent frog-eaters; but when they’re cow- 
ardly, they’re the faintest-hearted men that ever lived.” 


LE FLAMBEAU 309 

I am not prepared to say that Jethro Leighton’s 
opinion of the French people is correct, because my 
acquaintance with them only extends to such prisoners 
as I have aided in guarding or feeding; but this I 
know beyond a peradventure, that in our last two 
prizes we found enemies who were gluttons at fighting, 
although they might have been better marksmen. 

In order to avoid running away from our prize, 
and at the same time take precautions against her 
recapture, we shortened sail on the schooner while 
making the port of St. Kitts, and thus it chanced 
that at the end of twenty hours, she was hull down 
ahead of us. 

We of the crew were counting, as a reward for 
the last action, on enjoying shore liberty as soon as 
the anchor was down, for the recruits picked up at 
Basseterre had promised to show us all the sights 
of the town, which was much to our liking, as can 
well be fancied when you take into consideration the 
fact that it was now June, and we had been ashore 
but twice since the latter part of December. 

It was while our shipmates were laying out a pro- 
gramme for the visit in case we were so fortunate 
as to have a few days which could be spent in idle- 
ness, that a sail was reported, standing off to the 


310 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


eastward, and, as a matter of course, in a moment 
all was excitement among us. 

Inasmuch as the sighting of this stranger proved 
to be only an incident, and not that which led up to 
an action, I will pass over with but few words the 
eighteen hours we spent in pursuit ; for within a 
short time after the lookout had hailed, it was appar- 
ent the chase was doing her best to draw away 
from us. 

During the remainder of this day and all the 
night, we kept on, holding the stranger steadily in 
sight, and gaining upon her, until we made her out 
to be barque rigged and having much the look of a 
Yankee vessel. 

Then, the wind having died away somewhat, we 
overhauled her more rapidly, until she was brought 
to by a shot pitched over her bow, and we found 
that while there was no prize money to be gained, 
we had done good service for our country. 

The stranger was the barque Red Cloud from 
Boston, on a voyage around the Horn, and had been 
captured four and twenty hours previous by the 
same cruiser we were then sending into port — Le 
Flambeau. 

On board the prize was a crew of twelve French- 


LE FLAMBEAU 


31I 

men, and as prisoners the former crew, — twenty sea- 
men, four officers, and a small lad by the name of 
Ammi Merrill, who, according to the articles, had 
shipped as cabin-boy,^ steward’s assistant, or whatso- 
ever by way of duty should come within the range 
of his ability. 

I was on the barque’s deck when the rightful crew 
of the vessel was brought up from below, having 
smuggled myself on board the boat which carried 
Mr. Wadsworth to the recaptured craft; and Jethro, 
who had been detailed to release the Yankees, 
shouted to me as the poor fellows came up from the 
hold : — 

“ Here’s a comrade for you, Paul Burton, an’ I 
reckon you might make somethin’ out of him if he 
has a mind to turn privateersman instead of loafin’ 
around on a trader.” 

It was Ammi whose head appeared above the 
hatch-combing as the old sailorman hailed me; and I 
immediately took a great fancy to the lad, who 
.seemed as much out of place among shell-backs as a 
girl in a cow pasture, although at the moment I had 
no idea that we would ever become shipmates. 

The lad looked as if he had been crying his eyes 
out, and I can well fancy he had shed a good many 


312 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

tears at the idea of spending weary days, perhaps 
months, in a French prison. 

Seeing in me a boy of about his own age, he 
came quickly forward with outstretched hand. 

“ Do you belong aboard the war vessel ? ” he 
asked, and it was with considerable pride that I 
answered in the affirmative. 

“ Have you ever been in a battle ? ” 

Then I allowed myself to put on airs, and 
answered as if taking part in an engagement was a 
trifling matter: — 

“Dozens of them.” 

Ammi gazed at me in open-mouthed astonishment, 
and at that moment Mr. Wadsworth called us away, 
for the Frenchmen who made up the prize crew were 
to be taken as prisoners on board our schooner. 

While I stood near the rail with the others from 
the Enterprise^ aiding in sending the prisoners over 
the rail into our boat which lay alongside, it was 
possible to see the captain of the barque lead the 
boy well aft as if for a private interview. 

It looked to me as if the lad stood in fear of the 
commander, and I fancied that he was of the mind 
to run away; but the master of the barque held him 
fast by the arm while he talked earnestly and with 


LE FLAMBEAU 


313 


what had much the appearance of threatening ges- 
tures. 

Finally I saw Ammi hold up his hand, after the 
manner of one who makes oath to a statement; and 
when this movement had been repeated twice over, 
the captain went up to our second lieutenant in what 
I thought was far from a respectful fashion, as he 
asked : — 

“ There must be a chance for you to send a man 
or two back to the States now and then, eh ? ” 

“ We do have such opportunities when the number 
of our prisoners is so great that it becomes necessary 
to get rid of a cargo.” 

“Well, what’s the matter with your takin’ that boy 
along ? He’s been homesick ever since we left Bos- 
ton, an’ ain’t worth the salt that goes into his bread. 
I didn’t know but that the little shaver would die 
before we’d been eight an’ forty hours out of port, 
an’ he came mighty near goin’ into convulsions when 
the privateer sent a couple of shot aboard.” 

Mr. Wadsworth hung in the wind, as well he might 
after the experience with Miles Bartlett, whereupon, 
as Ammi came toward me with an imploring look, I 
took his arm with no little flourish, as if to say that I 
would become responsible for him. 


314 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


Whether or no this decided our second lieutenant, 
it is impossible for me to say ; but at all events he 
replied to the captain of the Red Cloud: — 

“ ril send word when the prisoners are taken 
aboard the schooner, and learn if our commander is 
willing to relieve you of the boy.” 

It was Jethro whom Mr. Wadsworth selected as a 
messenger to Commander Shaw, and before the old 
man went over the rail I whispered in his ear : — 

‘‘ In case the commander gives you a chance, say a 
good word for the lad.” 

“ What’s the matter with you now } ” Jethro asked 
gruffly. “ Haven’t we had enough in the way of boys 
already.'*” and I knew he was thinking of Miles Partlett. 

“This lad is of a different sort, Master Jethro, and 
I am certain he and I will get along right well. It 
will be doing him a big favor ; and if you’re afraid of 
his turning timorous, there’s no need of calling upon 
him to take part in an action. Do say what you can 
in his behalf if you have an opportunity.” 

Jethro made no promises; but when the prisoners 
had been put on board the E^iterprise^ and the boat 
was returned to carry back Mr. Wadsworth and those 
of us who yet remained on board the barque, the old 
sailor said to the second lieutenant: — 


LE FLAMBEAU 


315 


“The commander says, sir, that you may bring 
the lad, if it so be the master of this ’ere barque wants 
to send him home. I am to report that he’s not 
cornin’ with us as one of the crew ; but only a spare 
hand until we run across a ship sailin’ for a home 
port” 

“ That satisfies me, so that I can get the little 
shaver started toward the United States,” the mer- 
chantman’s captain said, and without waiting for fur- 
ther parley I led Ammi over the rail into the boat 
which was laying alongside. 

Then it was that the Red Cloud's captain came 
toward us, as if suddenly determined not to part with 
the boy, and the little fellow clung to my arm with a 
faint cry ; but no word was spoken, for our sailors 
were tumbling in upon us, eager to be aboard their 
own vessel once more. 


CHAPTER XIV 


Retaking Prizes 


OT until the crew had followed us into the boat 



^ ^ which was to carry Mr. Wadsworth back to the 
schooner, did I realize that we were bringing Ammi 
away empty handed, when the lad should have some 
dunnage; and once this occurred to me I cried to 
our second lieutenant, who was coming over the 
rail : — 

“We haven’t got Ammi’s belongings, sir.” 

Mr. Wadsworth looked at me blankly, not under- 
standing at once the meaning of my words, and the 
Red Cloud's captain said curtly : — 

“ I reckon the boy hasn’t got anything aboard 
that’s worth the carryin’ away.” 

At the same time Ammi plucked at my sleeve as 
he said in a low tone : — 

“ Don’t stop ; let us get to your vessel as soon as • 
possible. There is nothing aboard the ship belonging 
to me.” 

“ But surely you must have some dunnage,” I said 


RETAKING PRIZES 


317 


Stupidly, allowing myself to be dragged down on to 
the thwart; whereupon he shook his head like one 
who could explain the situation if he felt so disposed, 
and again there came into my mind the thought 
that we were doing something more than taking charge 
of a lad who had grown homesick. 

I felt certain there was something of a mystery 
connected with the case, and wondered if it might 
be that this innocent-looking lad was leagued with 
others in trying to play us a trick. 

However, it was really none of my business to ask 
questions then if Mr. Wadsworth’s curiosity was not 
aroused, and I remained silent, watching the expression 
of wondrous relief on the lad’s face as our men pulled 
smartly away from the ship. 

Once on board the Enterprise, and after having 
shown Ammi where he could swing his hammock, 
I proposed to my new comrade that he spend the 
time as best pleased him on deck, pretending that 
important duties prevented my remaining with him 
just then. 

The schooner was under way once more. Already 
the barque had swung off on her true course, and was 
to the vision hardly more than a white cloud four 
or five miles distant. 


3i8 the cruise of the enterprise 

Then I took Jethro Leighton to a secluded spot 
between two of the guns where we might converse 
privately, and asked if he had noticed anything 
peculiar when the captain of the Red Cloud called 
Ammi aside before learning whether it was Mr. Shaw’s 
pleasure to take the lad on board our schooner, where- 
upon the old sailor said emphatically : — 

“ Ay, Paul, that I did ; an’ you may make up your 
mind that there’s somethin’ betwixt this new shipmate 
of yours an’ the master of the merchantman, which 
hasn’t yet been told.” 

“ It has seemed somewhat like that to me ; but yet 
how is it possible that the captain of a ship and a 
cabin-boy should have secrets in common ? ” 

“Now you’ve got me, lad; that’s way out of my 
course, an’ we needn’t spend a great deal of time 
tryin’ to come back to it, ’cause nothin’ will be known 
until the boy himself makes ready to put confidence 
in us.” 

“ He doesn’t seem inclined to talk overly much.” 

“That’s ’cause he’s like a cat in a strange garret 
as yet. Wait till he’s been on board the schooner a 
week or two, an’ I’ll answer for it he tells the whole 
story.” 

Ammi was leaning over the starboard rail forward 


RETAKING PRIZES 


319 


when next I saw him, gazing at the horizon line, 
and I asked carelessly if he was straining his eyes 
in the hope of seeing the United States, whereupon 
he shook his head mournfully as he replied : — 

“I’m not such a softy as to think I’ll be within 
sight of my own country for many a long, weary day 
yet; but now that I’m on board a war vessel, surely 
the time must come when I’ll be steering a true course 
for home.” 

“ And perhaps you haven’t so long to wait, my 
boy,” I said, trying to give him all the encouragement 
possible. “We’ve got a good number of prisoners 
on our hands, and since the authorities at St. Kitts 
won’t allow them to be landed there, we shall be 
sending a cargo into New York or Boston pretty 
soon. How did it happen that you shipped on board 
the Red Cloud without an outfit C I asked, giving 
words to the question which held possession of my 
mind. 

“I didn’t,” the lad replied so decidedly that I looked 
at him in surprise. 

“ Then we left your dunnage aboard the barque 
after all.?” 

“ I hadn’t any.” 

“ Look here, Ammi,” I began, unwilling to wait 


320 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


longer before trying to come at the bottom of what 
seemed positive was a mystery. “ Tell me what you 
mean by saying that you didn’t ship without an outfit, 
and yet nothing of yours was left behind.” 

“ I never shipped aboard the Red Clo7id at all, but 
was taken against my will.” 

“ Do you mean that a press-gang gathered you in } ” 
I asked in bewilderment. 

The boy shook his head; and when I urged more 
definite answers to my questions, he said in a low tone, 
as if afraid of being overheard : — 

“The captain made me promise not to tell.” 

“ Do you mean that you are never to say a word 
about your setting out on a voyage around the 
Horn .? ” 

“ Of course I can tell the story when we get home, 
as I must ; but I believe the captain was afraid this 
schooner would go in pursuit of him if I let her 
commander know how I was taken on board.” 

It did not seem hardly fair for me to press the lad 
further when he was so unwilling to explain what 
I had now begun to believe was a wrong done him, 
and therefore the conversation came to an end for 
the time being. 

Ammi’s hammock was slung next to mine, and four 


RETAKING PRIZES 


321 


and twenty hours had not passed before we were 
firm friends, with nothing save this one secret be- 
tween us. 

He told me of his mother who, from all I could 
gather, had no knowledge of where he was, and spoke 
of the great happiness which would be his when he 
should be with her once again. Although not nearly 
as large as I, he was of the same age, and yet attend- 
ing school when he went, or was taken by force, on 
board the Red Cloud. 

He had an uncle living in Boston whose property 
was invested in shipping, and of him he stood greatly 
in fear, as I gathered. 

Well, I had ceased to ply the boy with questions, 
believing, as did Jethro, that in a short time he would 
voluntarily tell me his story, and had settled down to 
the routine of sea life once more when, twenty hours 
after overhauling the Red Cloud, we hove in sight 
another sail. 

This time it was a brig — a lumbering, apple-bowed 
old hooker which was doing her best to crawl away 
from us to leeward, and off we put in pursuit, as was 
our duty. 

The chase sailed more like a scow than a properly 
constructed sea-going craft, and in less than two 


Y 


322 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

hours we had her hove to a cable’s length to 
leeward. 

She proved to be the Amelia, from Philadelphia 
to Liverpool, and had been captured by L Aigle three 
days previous. 

A prize crew had been trying to take her into 
Guadaloupe ; but making more leeway than head- 
way, she had slid off her course until no one can say 
where she might finally have brought up but for our 
interference. 

As in the case of the Red Cloud, her proper crew 
was under the hatches, and six of the privateersmen 
were doing their best to handle her. 

We took the Frenchmen aboard and gave the master 
of the brig permission to go wherever he pleased ; 
but as Jethro said, he was more likely to go wherever 
the brig pleased, for she would neither stand up to 
the wind, nor make much headway when running full 
before it, and it was a mystery to all hands of us why 
such a clumsy vessel should be used for any other 
service than that of a lighter. 

“ Well, the frog-eaters have taken five prizes that 
they won’t get into port, thanks to us,” Jethro said 
as we parted company with the brig, “an’ if matters 
go on at this rate. I’m not certain but it would be a 


RETAKING PRIZES 


323 


good idee to leave the privateers alone, an’ quietly 
gather in whatsoever Yankee vessels they may take. 
There would be no risk in sich kind of work, an’ we’d 
gain anywhere from six to a dozen prisoners every 
haul.’’ 

‘^Yes, that kind of business would suit you to a 
dot, Jethro Leighton, after all your grumblin’ because 
the enemy won’t stand up to their guns! ” Joe Staples 
interrupted. “You’d be the first to cry out against 
it, an’ yet you never had a better idee in your life. 
We could cruise around here in clover, by runnin’ 
away from anything near our own size, without 
wastin’ a grain of powder or a single shot.” 

Then the two old men fell to chaffing each other, 
much to the amusement of their messmates, who on 
such occasions were always interested listeners, and as 
a rule, were well repaid for the expenditure of time. 

If left to myself, I believe that all unwittingly this 
yarn would be spun out until never a book could be 
made large enough to contain it, so nearly is it a 
labor of love for me to set down that which was 
said and done on board the Enterprise. 

I would that I might repeat the most trifling con- 
versation among the men, for then could one the 
better understand in what perfect harmony we lived, 


324 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


and how thoroughly each stood friend to the other, 
while all were jealous of the schooner s reputation, 
until that which was an affront to one was picked 
up by the entire crew. 

I am in duty bound, however, to bring this tale to 
a close within a certain limit, both as regards time 
and space, therefore the briefest mention shall be 
made of two more American prizes to the French 
which we recaptured and sent about their business, 
while we took eleven prisoners from both vessels. 

Surely it seemed by this time that we must have 
released all the vessels U Aigle had captured, for 
there were now thirty-four prisoners in our hold, 
which was quite as many as the privateer could have 
spared from her crew in order to have remaining 
the number that was on board when we fought 
her. 

Again was a squad told off to act as sentinels over 
the prisoners, and Ammi Merrill and I were detailed 
to the disagreeable task of furnishing them with food 
and water. 

We spent thirty-six hours making the distance from 
where the last Yankee was retaken to the harbor of 
St. Kitts, and during that time the lad who had been 
transferred from the Red Cloud had come to have the 


RETAKING PRIZES 


325 


most implicit confidence in my friendship, through 
being thrown so much in my company, as I fancied. 

We two lads were forced to spend no less than 
two-thirds of our time in the dark hold, and I, think- 
ing it might be a good idea to put into his mind 
that which would prevent him from giving way to 
cowardice, however weak kneed he felt, told the story 
of Miles Partlett’s disgrace and crime. 

It was on the night before we entered port that 
Ammi finally decided to put me in possession of his 
sad story. 

We had made St. Kitts near about sunset; but as 
the wind held light there appeared to be no chance 
we could come to our anchorage before midnight, 
and Ammi, who had a boy’s curiosity for seeing any 
new or strange place, proposed that we remain awake 
until the schooner had let go her ground-tackle. 

Nothing loath, I agreed, and we sat well forward 
on the main deck, sheltered from the wind by the 
rail, gazing at the stars or enjoying the motion as 
the little Enterprise leaped from one surge to an- 
other; but holding no converse until Ammi asked 
abruptly : — 

“ How far away do you allow the Red Cloud is by 
this time ? ” 


326 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“That’s a question I can’t answer; but it is certain 
that if you ever see her again, it won’t be until a 
couple of years have passed.” 

“ Are you positive of that ^ ” he asked earnestly. 

“ Why, of course I am, lad, if it so be she rounds 
Cape Horn. Two years isn’t very long for such a 
voyage as that.” 

“ But there’s no danger she’ll put back ? ” he asked, 
rather than stated. 

“ You can make certain that, once having been 
made a prize, the captain will take good care to get 
out of this vicinity as quickly as possible. Were 
you afraid he might overhaul us before you could be 
sent home.?” 

“That has been in my mind,” Ammi replied, “and 
the reason why I haven’t explained how I chanced 
to be on board the barque, is that he made me 
promise not to tell any one my story until he was 
so far away there could be no danger of pur- 
suit.” 

“ And you really promised ? ” I asked, thinking the 
lad was foolish to bind himself in the least degree, 
however slight, when the Enterprise lay near by to 
take a hand in the matter if by any chance he had 
been ill used. 


RETAKING PRIZES 


327 

** I was obliged to promise, otherwise he wouldn’t 
have let me come with you.” 

“ If you hadn’t signed articles aboard the Red Cloud, 
I don’t know how he could have prevented you from 
doing as you pleased.” 

“ He declared it would be possible to stop me, and 
I was perfectly willing to make any agreement what- 
soever in order to leave that ship.” 

“ Some day, when the time is ripe for it, I reckon 
you’ll be willing to tell me how you happened to be 
among that crew.” 

“If it is positive we won’t come upon the Red 
Cloud again, I am ready to tell it now,” he replied 
thoughtfully. “ There isn’t much of a story — at 
least, not a great deal that I can understand myself. 
Of course there was some reason for it all, but I 
haven’t been able to figure it out. I was going to 
school one day, when I met my uncle, Ira Merrill, 
who asked why I hadn’t been down to his office for 
some time. I explained that in order to hold a good 
standing with my class, much extra study had been 
necessary, and therefore I couldn’t spend the time. 
He insisted that I accompany him then in order to 
get some papers which he wanted me to deliver to 
my mother, promising at the same time that he would 


328 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

go himself, or send some one with me, to explain to 
the teacher why I was late at school. 

“ Uncle Ira is my father’s half-brother, and I knew 
that between him and mother there had been trouble 
about business matters after father’s death ; but he 
came to see us now and then, and inasmuch as he 
was a near relative, there seemed to be no reason 
why I should not obey. I went to his office, and 
from there he took me on board the Red Cloud, 
where he said we would find the papers. You must 
know that she is one of his ships; my father owned 
half of her before he died. We went into the saloon, 
and Uncle Ira summoned Mr. Nelson, the captain. 
Then I was sent into a small cabin off the saloon, 
because, as my uncle explained, he wanted to speak 
privately with Mr. Nelson. 

“There I stayed until it seemed as if two hours or 
more had passed, and thinking they must have for- 
gotten me, I attempted to go out. The door was 
locked ; I pounded and shrieked, but all to no pur- 
pose, and while I was trying to make some one 
hear, the ship was got under way. The next day 
Captain Nelson told me that I had been shipped as 
cabin-boy and steward’s assistant ; that my mother, 
wanting to bring me up as a sailor, had consented to 


RETAKING PRIZES 


329 


this plan lest I should object ; but the steward after- 
ward told me it was his opinion I had been regularly 
kidnapped.” 

“ Did they treat you badly ” I asked, wondering 
if it could be possible this lad’s story was true. 

“ At first the captain was very severe, and once 
knocked me down the companionway, when for a 
time he believed I was dead. After that it seemed 
much as if he had repented being so brutal ; and 
while we were prisoners in the hold, having been 
captured by the Frenchmen, he promised faithfully 
that whenever it should be possible to send me back 
to Boston he would do so, with the understanding 
that I allow Uncle Ira to believe I had made my 
escape unaided. 

“ When your vessel retook ours, I believed my time 
had come, and then it was Captain Nelson declared 
I should not be allowed to leave him. Only when I 
found courage to declare my intention of appealing 
to the captain of this schooner, did he consent, and 
then, as I have said, I was forced to promise that I 
would not tell the story until he was so far away 
that there could be no chance to capture him. I am 
still bound to repeat to Uncle Ira that I contrived to 
bring about my own liberty.” 


330 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“Can’t you guess why they took so much trouble 
to get you out of Boston ? ” I asked in perplexity. 

“ No, and I have tried very hard to work it out in 
my mind. Of course I know positively that my 
mother never sent me to sea in any such fashion, 
and she must be grieving her heart out now, unless 
Uncle Ira has told her everything.” 

“ And you can set it down as a fact that he 
hasn’t told her anything about it ! ” I cried, growing 
angry at learning of such villany. “It is all some 
scheme of his to get possession of your father’s 
property.” 

“ I don’t know,” Ammi replied, shaking his head 
doubtfully. “ It doesn’t seem as if a man would so 
wrong his brother’s son simply for the sake of 
money.” 

“ But such things have been done ! ” I cried hotly. 
“ Look here, Ammi, suppose you tell this story to 
Jethro; he’s a master hand at getting at the bottom 
of such matters, and besides, you’ll need a friend 
like him when you get back to Boston.” 

“ But I’m counting on being there long before 
the schooner arrives. There should be a chance, if 
you are sending prisoners home, for me to get 
a passage.” 


RETAKING PRIZES 33 1 

I insisted that whether he went with us, or was 
sent on one of the prizes, it would be a great 
advantage to tell Jethro Leighton of the villany 
which had been practised ; and finally, after many an 
argument, he agreed with me. 

We found Jethro and Joe Staples together, and I 
saw no reason why both should not listen to the 
recital of Ammi’s wrongs, while he, having decided 
to repeat the tale, made no hesitation because there 
were two listeners instead of one. 

The story was told the second time almost in the 
same words I had heard it; and once the lad had 
come to an end, the two old shell-backs sat there 
smoking furiously, but never saying a word. 

“ Well } ” I asked impatiently, having counted on 
hearing them explain at once why the lad had been 
kidnapped, and disappointed because they remained 
silent. 

“It’s an odd yarn,” Jethro said sagely. “I can’t 
seem to make head or tail out of it, though if Ammi 
knew more about his father’s business, I reckon it 
might be plain. Howsomever, there’s no hurry, seein’s 
how the lad is bound to stay with us for a spell, so 
Joe an’ me will turn it over in our minds till we 
come to somethin’ in the way of an opinion.” 


332 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

“ I’m thinkin’ that it would be a good idee to take 
Mr. Wadsworth into the secret,” Staples said after 
a brief time of silence. “This ’ere lad is under the 
protection of our commander, so to speak, seein’s 
he’s been brought aboard the Enterprise^ an’ it stands 
us in hand to make sich arrangements as will pre- 
vent any funny business bein’ done when he goes 
ashore. Let us figger that this ’ere Uncle Ira 
wanted to get rid of his nevy, an’ he happened to 
see him when the boy first goes ashore after arrivin’ 
home. Why, it stands to reason he’s bound to kid- 
nap him agin, for a man who claims to be honest 
couldn’t afford to have sich a story as that told about 
him. This ’ere trick is mighty deep, Jethro Leighton, 
an’ I ain’t so certain as we two old barnacles have 
got the heads on our shoulders to carry it through 
shipshape.” 

I was also of the opinion that very much care 
must be exercised when Ammi first returned, lest he 
find himself in yet greater difficulties than before. 
But it was doubtful if he would consent to letting so 
many into the secret, and therefore, in order that 
Master Staples and Jethro might do whatsoever they 
thought best without being hampered by any com- 
mands from Ammi, I proposed that the lad and I go 


RETAKING PRIZES 


333 


forward again, for by this time we were entering the 
harbor. 

It was much as if the boy felt great relief of mind 
after having confided to others the story of his 
wrongs, but he made no further mention of the mat- 
ter during the next eight and forty hours. 

We two lads remained on deck that night until 
the Enterprise was come to an anchor among her 
prizes, and been received with hearty cheers by the 
crews of the three captured vessels, after which we 
turned in. 

Next morning we had visitors almost without num- 
ber. The people of Basseterre had come by this 
time to understand that the Yankees were making 
the Frenchmen look foolish, for I venture to say that 
never before had so many prizes been brought into 
that port by a single vessel ; therefore, for the pur- 
pose of showing themselves friendly to men who 
could accomplish so much with so little at their dis- 
posal, the citizens set about making our acquaintance, 
and as a matter of course, we of the gun-deck 
were only too well pleased at being entertained. 

That portion of our crew which had been shipped 
from Basseterre did not forget the promise made ; 
therefore while the work of covering the wounds 


334 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


inflicted by Le Flambeau was being performed, we 
decided that a certain number of men should ask 
each day for shore liberty, and that every party thus 
made up have among it two or more of those who 
were acquainted in the town. 

Commander Shaw was as great a stickler for dis- 
cipline as ever paced a quarter-deck ; but he also had 
the good sense to understand that all work and no 
play makes Jack a dull fellow; therefore when our 
request was sent aft, he very readily agreed to it, 
and from that hour a dozen or more of us were con- 
tinually on shore, enjoying ourselves in a most sailorly 
fashion. 

It was eight and forty hours before any mention 
was made of the story told by Ammi, and then Joe 
Staples and Jethro called us two lads near one of 
the open ports where we could talk without danger 
of being overheard, while at the same time we en- 
joyed the cooling breezes which came in upon us. 

It was Master Leighton who began the conversa- 
tion by saying: — 

“We have had a confab with Mr. Wadsworth, an’ 
he has said somethin’ about it to the commander.” 

Ammi looked up quickly at the old sailor, who 
had suddenly paused as if this was’ the extent of the 


RErrAKING PRIZES 


335 

information he intended to give, whereupon Joe Staples 
took up the part of spokesman. 

“ It’s agreed by the officers, an’ I’m thinkin’ much 
the same as they do, that it would be mighty danger- 
ous to send you home in one of the prizes without 
first makin’ such arrangements as should put a 
stopper on any evil thing your uncle might try 
to work.” 

He paused, and Jethro continued: — 

“To whittle down the yarn, it stands like this, lad: 
The commander believes you’re forced to stay aboard 
of us until we run afoul of some other naval vessel 
bound for home ; but in the meantime, that is to say 
to-day, you’re to write a long story to your mother, 
tellin’ her exactly where you are, an’ under whose 
care. Mr. Shaw will have the letter sent to Boston, x 
for the idee now is that U Aigle is to get under way 
for that port within four an’ twenty hours.” 

“That will ease up your mother’s heart,” Joe Sta- 
ples interrupted. “ She won’t be botherin’ about you ; 
but in case she has got any head for business, will 
be lookin’ after matters to your benefit, an’ take care 
that your precious uncle’s eye-teeth are pulled.” 

“It’s the only safe plan, my lad,’^ Jethro added 
earnestly, “an’ the sooner you get about your letter- 


336 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


writin’ the better, for it will take a good many words to 
put the thing down so she’ll understand it. Tell her 
you’re on board the United States schooner Enter- 
prise ^ Lieutenant John Shaw commandin’, an’ that as 
soon as he can send you home in a naval vessel, he’ll 
do it ; but in the meantime you’ll be took care of 
like you was eggs.” 

Ammi appeared to be confused by the advice 
which was thus literally showered upon him ; but 
after a time he got the matter straightened out in 
his mind, and seemed to believe that the plan was a 
good one. 

“ I’ll get about the letter right away, sir,” he re- 
plied aftcT a long pause, and no sooner had he 
spoken than Jethro toddled off to where his clothes- 
bag was stowed, coming back with two large sheets 
of paper, wafers enough to seal the correspondence 
of an admiral, and a bit of soft lead which would 
serve as pencil. -> ^ 

Joe Staples brought out a piece of pine board as a 
writing-desk, and then we left the lad alone that he 
might the better be able to set down in words all 
which had befallen him through the villany of his 
uncle. 


CHAPTER XV 


Homeward Bound 

JUST a word here concerning a matter which was 
^ settled a year later than the time of which I am 
writing, and set down now lest it should escape my 
memory. 

In describing the action with Le Flambeau^ I have 
tried to picture it as the capture of a well-fought vessel 
by one much less in size and in the number of the 
crew, as really was the case ; but lest the reader 
should overlook the fact that French 9’s are larger 
guns than any we carried, and in addition to her 
having nearly thirty men the advantage of us she 
was decidedly heavier in metal, I repeat it ; and 
the court which decided the prize claims was much 
impressed with such fact. 

When Le Flambeau was condemned and sold, instead 
of dividing the prize money between the government 
and our crew, the entire proceeds were given to the 
men and officers of the Enterprise^ because we were 
of greatly inferior force during the action. 


z 


337 


338 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Therefore it was that we were publicly thanked, so 
to speak, for having performed what has been spoken 
of as “the handsomest exploit of the war.” 

Of the time spent in merry-making at St. Kitts 
it is not essential to write; nor need I go into details 
concerning the work necessary to be done on our 
gallant little schooner before she was ready to attack 
the enemy again. 

It is enough if I say that we thoroughly enjoyed 
ourselves in Basseterre, thanks to the guides, and 
afterward labored sufficiently hard to make up for 
the idle time. 

Two days after we arrived in the harbor of St. 
Kitts, V Aigle was sent off for the home port, carry- 
ing with her all the prisoners which had been taken, 
greatly to the satisfaction of Ammi aiid myself. 

The other two prizes were condemned and in a 
fair way to be sold, therefore were the men looking 
forward with somewhat of impatience to the distri- 
bution of prize money which must soon be made. 

Ammi was grown cheerful and contented, for the 
long letter which he wrote had been sent to his 
mother, and there was every reason to believe she 
would receive it in due time, since the master of the 
prize had explicit instructions to carry it to her in 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


339 

person, if possible, or to forward it by post at the 
earliest moment after his arrival. 

I believe the little fellow really had a liking for a 
sea life, and he questioned me until I was weary with 
the answering, regarding the methods employed in 
making a capture, which gave me to understand that 
he was burning with desire to take part in an action. 

By Commander Shaw’s orders, Ammi was rated 
as “boy,” and therefore a member of the crew. 
His duties were to assist me in supplying the gunners 
with ammunition during an engagement; but it was 
stipulated by Mr. Wadsworth that he should not be 
called upon to stand watch. 

In telling this story I have given no heed to the 
flight of time, thinking it could make little difference 
to the reader whether we took this or that prize on 
any certain day; therefore, in order to give an idea 
of the length of the voyage, I will say that it was the 
fourteenth day of August, in the year 1800, when 
the Enterprise^ a clean ship once more, sailed out 
from St. Kitts with the intention of cruising in the 
Antigua Passage. 

“ Now, Ammi, you’ll have the chance to take part 
in an action, unless it so be that all our commander’s 
luck has deserted him,” I said to my comrade as we 


340 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


Stood side by side, watching the little schooner while 
she bounded onward as if conscious that already was 
her name famous. “ We have never yet set off without 
coming across an enemy, and it will be strange indeed 
if this cruise should prove an exception.” 

“ Never you fear about that, Paul,” Master Jethro 
said, having come up without our knowledge and 
overheard my remark. “ So long as this ’ere vessel 
is under command of Lieutenant John Shaw, jest so 
long she will continue as she began.” 

It could readily be seen that all hands shared 
Jethro’s opinion in this regard. One understood from 
the expression on the faces of the men that they 
were certain of taking yet more prizes, and having 
come to know the metal of the enemy, were but little 
concerned regarding the future. 

Two days later we hove in sight a small sail, and 
ran upon her almost as if she had been anchored. 

^ Ammi was in a fever of excitement from the mo- 
ment the lookout hailed until we were come so 
near that it was apparent there could be no real fight, 
because the stranger was hardly more than a toy 
vessel. 

She proved to be La Pauline ^ six guns and forty 
men. The wonder of it was that she had been fitted 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


341 


out as a cruiser, for there was no probability of her 
being able either to run away or hold her own in 
event of meeting with an armed enemy, and even a 
merchant ship should have been able to beat her off. 

It goes without saying that she struck her colors 
immediately we hailed, and not a gun was fired. We 
put four men aboard ; confined the prisoners under 
the hatches, as had been our custom, and sent her 
toward St. Kitts, never expecting to set eyes on her 
again. 

It may be well to set it down here that she did 
arrive safely, and after legally being condemned, was 
sold at a price that astonished us all. 

After the capture we continued the cruise, standing 
to and fro with five men continuously on the look- 
out, and seeing nothing of the enemy during twelve 
long days, the monotony of which was broken only 
when we were so fortunate as to come across a 
Yankee vessel with a French prize crew on board 
but in this last work there could be no great excite- 
ment. 

During this time of standing off and on we recap- 
tured four prizes; sent them on their way rejoicing, 
and took aboard the Enterprise four French crews, 
numbering in all thirty-one men. 


342 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

I was convinced by this time that so long as I re- 
mained in the schooner, it would be my disagreeable 
duty to deal out provisions and water to a lot o£ 
Frenchmen who must be guarded carefully every 
moment of the day and night lest there should be 
an uprising, although now we had no reason to fear 
such a ghost as had once taken possession of the 
schooner’s hold. 

Ammi was a little jewel for working, ready at all 
times to do even more than his share of the tasks, 
and continually proposing that I leave to him the 
burden of the labor, in order that he might the better 
prove his thankfulness for having been rescued from 
those who had kidnapped him. 

A right pleasant, cheery comrade was this little lad 
whose head was stuffed so full of learning that I 
envied him every day of my life. He never put him- 
self forward to take part in any conversation, but 
there was not a question in the line of book- 
learning which the men asked that he could not 
answer; and before we had been at sea a week you 
would hear this or that old shell-back, in trying to 
uphold an argument, call upon Ammi for figures or 
statements to prove his position. 

Such a general favorite did the boy become in a 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


343 


short time that my nose was quite out of joint; and 
I venture to say that any ordinary heroism which 
might have been displayed by me would have passed 
unnoticed, because now I was rated among the men, 
and Ammi the only boy on board. 

Well, the lad had the satisfaction, if such it could 
be called, of taking part in an action at sea before 
we were at the end of our cruise in the Antigua 
Passage. 

It was the first day of September, just at sunrise, 
when one of the lookouts reported a sail off the lee 
bow, not more than two leagues distant. 

There had been a light haze on the water which 
obscured everything save within a distance of half a 
mile or less, and when this lifted, there could be seen 
distinctly through the glasses a small brig, evidently 
armed, and standing directly toward us. 

To have hauled around in order to meet her half- 
way might have caused alarm and thus prolonged the 
chase, whereas, hoping to give her the idea that the 
Enterprise was a merchant schooner, we held our 
course, putting over drags formed of spare sails to 
retard our progress, that she might the more quickly 
come upon us and yet not know we were trying to 
make a dull sailer of our little clipper. 


344 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


A thick-headed set of officers the Frenchmen must 
have been, for they cracked on all sail thinking that 
in us they saw a prize which could easily be taken, 
and not until she was almost within range of our 
guns did the stupids discover they had been running 
down an armed vessel much their superior. 

Then it was that the frog-eaters hauled off ; our 
drags were brought inboard in a jiffy, and the little 
schooner, clothed in her full suit of canvas that 
glistened like silver in the rays of the morning sun, 
darted down upon the enemy as a hawk upon a chicken. 

They might have been stupid, those Frenchmen, 
but they were not cowardly. 

Although it was possible for them to see that we 
carried twelve guns while they, as we afterward 
learned, mounted but seven, and there could be no 
doubt as to the result of the engagement, the crew 
of the brig fought her gallantly. 

She had a long 9 which could be used at the bow 
or stern, and fire was opened with this at the moment 
when our schooner leaped forward under the impulse 
given by the additional canvas. 

And well aimed, too, was the shot which came 
aboard our lee bow, traversing three-fourths the length 
of the vessel, and passing through the rail, sent the 


HOMEWARD BOUND 345 

splinters flying in every direction on the quarter- 
deck. 

I was standing by Ammi’s side with the thought 
in my mind that if the lad should show signs of 
timorousness when the first gun was fired, I would 
make certain he had no opportunity to display his 
cowardice even though I was forced to lash him to 
a belaying-pin. 

Therefore it was that my back was turned toward 
the quarter-deck at the time the shot came crashing 
inboard, and my first intimation of disaster was the 
shrill cry of fear which went up from men, who, 
when their own lives were in danger, would have 
been killed rather than display the least show of 
nervousness. 

It was so strange, so unusual to hear such a sound 
on board our schooner where all had proven their 
courage, that I turned suddenly, and then saw 
Commander Shaw lying on deck just to starboard of 
the wheel, while over him bent both lieutenants. 

One could see that he was not dead; but until the 
surgeons made an examination it was impossible to 
say how severely he had been wounded ; and when 
the word was passed forward of what had occurred, 
the gunners waited for no orders to open fire. 


346 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

While the commander of the schooner was being 
carried below, followed by the surgeons and the lieu- 
tenants, our crew fought out the battle, and what is 
more, won it ere yet the ship had been taken in 
charge by either of the other officers. 

It was a running fight with no more than the dis- 
tance of a musket-shot separating the two vessels, 
and each pouring in her fire as rapidly as the guns 
could be reloaded. 

Our people sent two shots to the Frenchman’s one, 
so frenzied were they by the thought that possibly 
the commander had been killed, and the helmsmen, 
without waiting for orders, kept the Enterprise along- 
side so that the gunners might have a fair target, 
luffing now and then lest they forge ahead of the 
enemy. 

There had been no need for me to station myself 
by Ammi’s side in order to prevent him from dis- 
playing signs of timorousness, for a lad who had 
spent all his life at sea, taking part in an engage- 
ment every day, could not have given less heed to 
the missiles which came aboard, cutting the rigging 
here and there, or splintering the rail and spars until 
the deck was strewn with fragments of wood. 

He put me to shame with his coolness, speculating 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


347 


upon the damage which was being done the French- 
man, and calmly taking account of our injuries, never 
once so much as bending a knee when the iron mis- 
siles hurtled with a shriek and a yell just above his 
head. 

Such a lad as he should have shipped aboard 
some frigate, never mind in what capacity, and I 
would be willing to stake all the prize money I 
earned during the cruise, that he would rise from the 
lowest to the highest station in due course of time. 

We had sent perhaps thirty shots aboard the 
enemy, and received from her somewhere about twenty 
in -return, when her fore-topmast was shot away, 
bringing the little craft around where we might have 
raked her with every gun on the port side. 

Then it was that she struck her colors ; and as 
they came fluttering down, Mr. Wadsworth ran out 
of the cabin, shouting so that all might hear the 
good news : — 

“The commander is seriously, but not dangerously 
wounded. He sends word that the Frenchman must 
be captured.” 

“That has been done already, sir,” Jethro cried, 
pointing to the prize, and the men set up a shout 
which most likely the frog-eaters believed was one of 


348 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

triumph because we had taken a vessel so insignifi- 
cant as compared with our own size. 

The first lieutenant came on deck and hailed in 
proper fashion, whereupon we learned that we had 
added to our captures the letter of marque La Gtiada- 
loupeenne with seven guns and forty-five men. 

Save in the case of Mr. Shaw, we had sustained 
no injury whatsoever, except in the running rigging 
and our upper works. 

When the prize crew was thrown on board, Mr. 
Wadsworth went with it to ascertain whether the 
men could be safely held prisoners on board, or if 
they must be transshipped, and to his great surprise, 
found there the same French general whom we had 
sent to Guadaloupe as a hostage for the safety of 
the two Yankees under sentence of death in that 
harbor. 

This was the eighth armed Frenchman we had cap- 
tured, and the number of Yankees retaken amounted 
to eleven. 

All this work had been done in a few days more 
than eight months, and as we learned shortly after- 
ward, the cruise was ended with the capture of La 
G uadaloiipeenne. 

Because of Mr. Shaw’s wounds we put back to 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


349 


St. Kitts after having taken the prisoners on board; 
and before arriving there, our commander was in such 
a condition that the surgeons declared he must not 
be allowed to longer bear the mental strain of sailing 
the cruiser. 

Once we were in the harbor, inquiries were made 
at different points as to whether any Yankee vessels 
of war were on the station; and from all the informa- 
tion which could be obtained, it appeared that we 
were the only representative of the United States in 
that vicinity. 

The two lieutenants, acting under the advice of 
the surgeons, decided that the most prudent course 
was to send Mr. Shaw home in one of the prizes, 
with the request to the government that a commander 
for the Enterprise be appointed at once, and in the 
meanwhile the schooner would remain in port. 

Now all of our men had shipped for the cruise, 
and it can well be fancied that the sea-lawyers on 
the gun-deck set their tongues wagging as to whether 
any of us could rightfully be called upon to remain 
after a change of commanders had been made. 

They argued that the cruise ended when Mr. Shaw 
left the vessel, and there was so much speechifying 
and so many noisy controversies that the condition 


350 


THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 


of affairs came to the ears of the lieutenants, who 
evidently held a consultation with the commander. 

Then it was that Mr. Wadsworth called us aft and 
stated that, in the opinion of the commander, the 
cruise was interrupted rather than ended ; but if it 
so chanced there were any who claimed the right to 
be discharged from service, they might go home in 
the prize. 

I had thought, after hearing so much jawing, that 
every man jack of them would insist on his dis- 
charge ; but all hands of them knew full well that 
such another successful cruise had never been made, 
and when we were brought to the test, not a man 
took advantage of the offer, all being eager to return 
to the home port on board the vessel which had won 
such an enviable name for herself. 

As a matter of fact, those who were detailed as 
the prize crew grumbled because of being sent away, 
when, as the only vessel on the station, the Enter- 
prise might be needed in some sudden emergency, 
and the lieutenants were forced to threaten with 
punishment those who rebelled against the draft. 

Probably because of the fact that Commander Shaw 
would be on board, a larger crew than usual was 
given in charge of the little La Gnadaloiip^enne ; and 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


351 


to my great surprise and disappointment, I heard the 
names of Paul Burton and Ammi Merrill read among 
those who would attempt to carry the prize into 
a home port. 

“ Don’t be downhearted, lad,” Master Jethro said 
to me, observing my grief. “You may take my 
word for it that the rest of us won’t be far behind 
you, now we’ve lost Mr. Shaw ; an’ before many 
months slip by we’ll be shipmates on a bigger 
craft.” 

“But I’d rather stay in the E7iterprise I wailed; 
and Joe Staples said soothingly: — 

“The vessel herself ain’t of so much account; it’s 
the commander what pushes her in advance, an’ you 
can make up your mind that Lieutenant Shaw won’t 
be allowed to remain on shore many months. We’ve 
only to keep our weather eyes liftin’, in order to ship 
under his command soon again ; for you may take 
my word that his wound ain’t goin’ to cut any very 
great figger.” 

We set sail the next day, because owing to Mr. 
Shaw’s condition it was thought necessary to get 
him to the United States as quickly as possible; 
and once having left the Enterprise, it is time to 
bring my story to a close, since the only purpose in 


352 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

beginning it was to tell of the cruise of the schooner, — 
that most remarkable piece of seamanship. 

Let me set down here, however, the service done 
by the Enterprise while she remained on the Lee- 
ward Island station. 

Lieutenant Sterrett was sent out to take command 
of the schooner, and he remained in her until the 
war with France had come to an end ; but it seemed 
as if the luck of the Enterprise had deserted her 
when Mr. Shaw left, for she took but one prize 
after our departure — the schooner E Amour de la 
Patriey six guns and seventy-two men. 

We met with no mishap on the homeward voyage ; 
but had favoring winds from the hour we got under 
way until arriving in Boston harbor, and Mr. Shaw 
improved in health every day. It really seemed as 
if the relief from command aided in the healing of 
his wound ; and save for a slight limp when he 
walked, no one would have fancied he had been 
disabled. 

That he remembered Ammi was shown immediately 
our vessel cast anchor in Boston harbor, for then it 
was he announced his intention of going with the lad 
to his home, and to my great delight and surprise, 
proposed that I make one of the party. 


HOMEWARD BOUND 353 

“You two have been such firm friends that it 
seems almost necessary you should be in company 
when Ammi’s cruise comes to an end in his mother’s 
arms,’’ he said to me. 

And I went ashore with them, as can readily be 
fancied, for I was burning with a most intense desire 
to know what the lad’s uncle had said or done when 
the letter telling of his villany arrived. 

Ammi had not boasted of his mother’s wealth as 
many another lad would have done, therefore I was 
surprised, and Mr. Shaw looked a trifle astonished, 
when he led us to one of the finest mansions in 
Boston, and announced his arrival by a thundering 
clang of the huge brass knocker. 

Perhaps it will be as well if I do not attempt to 
describe the scene which followed our entrance, for 
certain it is I could not come within half a cable’s 
length of picturing it truthfully. 

Mrs. Merrill held the lad in her arms a full half 
hour, as if afraid that even now he might be taken 
from her, and only when the servants gathered around 
to welcome him did she release her hold. 

A long time elapsed before the good woman was 
sufficiently calm to hear the story of her son’s mis- 
adventures, and then Commander Shaw had quietly 


354 ™E CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

taken his departure, after whispering to me that I 
might call upon him when I had visited my dear 
ones in Salem. 

Ammi told of all that had happened from the hour 
his uncle enticed him on board the Red Cloudy and 
in so doing made very much of my friendship. A 
stranger would have thought that I was the one 
particular person who had done anything toward 
restoring him to his home; and I would have left 
the room for very shame, but that the lad and his 
mother held me tightly by the hands all the while. 

I shall not set down here all Mrs. Merrill said to 
me on that day ; but before I left, it was fully decided 
that Ammi and I were to remain close comrades. I 
was to come to Boston as soon as possible after hav- 
ing visited my home, and there gain such an educa- 
tion as would fit me for holding a commission in the 
navy, in case I was ever so fortunate as to win one. 

It was as if Ammi had suddenly become my 
brother; and his mother declared again and again 
that we lads should share, and share alike, in all 
which she possessed. 

At some future time I hope to be able to set down 
that which was done for me by the dear lad and his 
mother, and what it led to in the fashioning of my life. 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


355 


There is little to be told regarding Ammi’s uncle, 
who had, beyond question, plotted the boy’s^ death. 

Immediately after Mrs. Merrill received the letter 
from her son which had been sent home by the 
prize, she consulted a lawyer, and the result was that 
the legal gentleman soon discovered Ira Merrill’s vil- 
lany in more places than one. It appeared that he 
had been regularly swindling the widow, and would 
have done even worse, once the death of the lad was 
compassed. 

Before matters were in readiness to give the 
scoundrel a dose of the law, he disappeared ; and 
when we arrived in port, steps had been taken to re- 
cover from the villain’s estate such property as he 
had wrongfully become possessed of while settling his 
brother’s business affairs. 

It can well be supposed that I lost no time, once I 
was given liberty after returning to the schooner from 
Ammi’s home, in setting out for Salem ; and of the 
welcome I met with there from my loved ones, and 
in fact from every man, woman, and child I had ever 
seen before, need not be written down here because it 
is really no part of the story I undertook to tell. 

Perhaps it may be well, however, if I bring to a 
close all that portion of the tale which concerns 


356 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

Miles Partlett, although I was happy in never meet- 
ing the cowardly fellow again. 

The cartel in which he had been sent home arrived 
finally in the port of Boston, after twice narrowly 
escaping capture, and Miles was sent to jail for safe 
keeping until the day when he was tried for treason, 
and for deserting his colors during an engagement 
There was considerable delay in making ready for 
the law business, and during such time Jethro Leigh- 
ton and Joe Staples arrived at Salem, having been 
discharged from service because the cruise of the 
Enterprise had come to an end. 

These two old sailors, together with several other 
members of the schooner’s crew, were summoned as 
witnesses, and from Master Jethro I learned the re- 
sult within four and twenty hours after the close of 
the trial. 

It had been the general belief that the lad would 
surely be hanged; but, instead, he was let off with a 
sentence of two years in the common jail at Boston, 
and it was said that such leniency was shown be- 
cause of the influence of his father’s friends, who 
were in some way connected with the government. 

According to my ideas the lad’s punishment was 
heavy enough, even though he might really have 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


357 


been called a murderer. To be shut up in jail two 
years must be terrible, and yet light in comparison 
with the fact that, when he was set at liberty, people 
would point him out as the boy who was a traitor to 
his country and his shipmates. The scorn and con- 
tempt which would ever follow him must have far out- 
weighed the horror of being a prisoner. 

From the day I parted with him at St. Kitts I 
never saw Miles Partlett again, nor have I heard 
anything to a certainty regarding him. It was whis- 
pered in Salem that when his term in prison had 
come to an end, he went out on the frontier with the 
idea of hiding himself ; but I do not give credit to 
such a story, because the lad would not willingly put 
himself in the way of so much danger as is to be 
found where brave men are battling day after day to 
extend the boundary of the United States. 

I am more inclined to believe with Jethro and Joe 
Staples, that Miles shipped on board a merchantman, 
using an assumed name, and it is possible that even 
at this day he is cruising around the world, his 
greatest fear being that some one may discover his 
true name and character. I hope, for his own peace 
of mind, that he may never meet with any person 
who ever knew him in the past. 


358 THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE 

The only boon a traitor can hope for, is that those 
whom he loved may never see his face again. 

I wish it were possible to set down in words the 
love which is in my heart for Jethro Leighton and 
Joe Staples, now that my poor yarn has come to an 
end. If I have failed thus far in showing their 
exceeding friendliness toward the lad whom they 
“made over” from a very green hand into a fairly 
good sailor, then it is useless to attempt it now. 

Since the hour when my cruise in the Enterprise 
came to an end, I have been with them during many, 
many long watches on shipboard, and am now doing 
what I may toward brightening their declining days ; 
for both the old barnacles are anchored here in 
Salem, counting on meeting ashore the white-winged 
messenger of death, when he comes to summon them 
for the final voyage. 

At some time in the future, if it so please those 
who have read this poor apology for a story, I pro- 
pose to set down a detailed account of that cruise 
which Ammi and I made in company, when we fairly 
earned our commissions as midshipmen, during the 
war of 1812. 

That we had a long and varied experience with 
more of danger than of pleasure in it, I am free to 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


359 


admit; but while we look back to it with pride, we 
understand full well that neither he, nor I, nor any 
other ever sailed on as successful and satisfactory 
a cruise as that of the little Enterprise at the Lee- 
ward Island station. 


















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